David Harold Franzoni (born March 4, 1947) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He conceived the story for, co-wrote and co-produced the 2000 film Gladiator,[1][2] for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Academy Award for Best Picture.[2][3][4][5] His other screenplays include King Arthur (2004),[6][7][8][3][4] Amistad (1997),[9] and Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986).[10]
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David Franzoni | |
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Born | (1947-03-04) March 4, 1947 (age 75) |
Alma mater | University of Vermont |
Occupation | Screenwriter, producer |
Years active | 1980–present |
Awards | Academy Award for Best Picture Gladiator (2000) BAFTA Award for Best Film Gladiator (2000) |
Franzoni's script for Gladiator was a revival of the sword-and-sandal genre,[11] using characters very different from the original and drawing upon available historic and archaeological sources.[12] He started to write the story in the 1970s, after reading the 1958 non-fiction book Those About to Die by Daniel P. Mannix, which detailed the Roman gladiatorial games.[13]
For Amistad, Franzoni decided not to use a standard narrative, explaining, "the typical slant in this sort of film is to have the poor, chained black man arrive in the presence of the white guy, who has a good soul and fights the good faith to liberate the black man."[14] Franzoni was also the one who convinced Steven Spielberg to direct the film.[11]
Franzoni stated that the screenplay of King Arthur "aims more for history than myth,"[15] and again relied upon archaeological evidence in an attempt to create a more realistic human and political interpretation of the character.[16][17]
Year | Title | Writer | Producer | Director(s) | Notes |
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1986 | Jumpin' Jack Flash | Yes | No | Penny Marshall | co-written with Charles Shyer, Nancy Meyers and Chris Thompson |
1992 | Citizen Cohn | Yes | No | Frank Pierson | television film |
1997 | Amistad | Yes | No | Steven Spielberg | |
2000 | Gladiator | Yes | Yes | Ridley Scott | co-written with John Logan and William Nicholson |
2004 | King Arthur | Yes | No | Antoine Fuqua | |
2018 | Black and White Stripes: The Juventus Story | No | Executive | La Villa Brothers | documentary film |
TBA | JSA | Yes | No | Himself | directorial debut |
Gladiator 2[citation needed] | No | Yes | Ridley Scott |
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