Christopher McQuarrie
Birthday:
1968, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Christopher McQuarrie is an acclaimed producer, director and an Academy Award® winning writer. McQuarrie grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey and in lieu of college, he spent the first five years out of school traveling and working at a detective agency. He later moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film.In 1995, his screenplay for The ...
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Christopher McQuarrie is an acclaimed producer, director and an Academy Award® winning writer. McQuarrie grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey and in lieu of college, he spent the first five years out of school traveling and working at a detective agency. He later moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film.In 1995, his screenplay for The Usual Suspects, directed by childhood pal, Bryan Singer, garnered him the Academy Award® and the BAFTA Award for "Best Original Screenplay". McQuarrie also went on to win the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Independent Spirit Award. The Usual Suspects has been named one of the greatest screenplays of all time by the Writer's Guild of America.In the years following, McQuarrie directed The Way of the Gun, starring Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro and James Caan. In 2008, he collaborate with Singer once again to produce and co-write Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise. This film would lead to many more McQuarrie-Cruise collaborations. McQuarrie re-teamed with Cruise in 2012 for his sophomore directorial outing, Jack Reacher Within hours of completing the film, he was at work with Cruise again, this time re-writing the script for Doug Liman's Edge of Tomorrow. It was while working together on the sci-fi action film that Cruise suggested McQuarrie direct what would become Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. The highly anticipated fifth installment of the Ethan Hunt saga, written also by McQuarrie, garnered the biggest opening in the history of the Mission: Impossible franchise, was the highest-grossing 2D Hollywood film ever at the Chinese box office, earning $124 million, and garnered over $680 million worldwide. McQuarrie is confirmed to write and direct the sixth chapter in the franchise, making him the first repeat director in the film's two-decade history. Show less «
Action to me is something very fun to shoot.
Action to me is something very fun to shoot.
Oh my God, you look at all the uniforms in Star Wars, and it's all Nazi iconography.
Oh my God, you look at all the uniforms in Star Wars, and it's all Nazi iconography.
I believe that as a writer and a director, you're only providing the skeleton of a character, and you're hiring actors to fill it out.
I believe that as a writer and a director, you're only providing the skeleton of a character, and you're hiring actors to fill it out.
While I was a voracious moviegoer as a boy, I never put writing and films together in my mind.
While I was a voracious moviegoer as a boy, I never put writing and films together in my mind.
A lot of books, if you take them at face value, they're just not gonna work as films.
A lot of books, if you take them at face value, they're just not gonna work as films.
Success is never bad in Hollywood. It is what you do with success that will dog you.
Success is never bad in Hollywood. It is what you do with success that will dog you.
The challenge in most car chases is you're trying to hide the fact that it's not the actor driving.
The challenge in most car chases is you're trying to hide the fact that it's not the actor driving.
Scripts don't get movies made.
Scripts don't get movies made.
The Way of the Gun (2000) I wrote in five days.
The Way of the Gun (2000) I wrote in five days.
The way I like to describe Hollywood today is this: everyone wants to make Deliverance (1972), but no one wants to be Ned Beatty.
The way I like to describe Hollywood today is this: everyone wants to make Deliverance (1972), but no one wants to be Ned Beatty.
I love films like Deliverance (1972) where you can watch it over and over again and decode all of its many different meanings.
I love films like Deliverance (1972) where you can watch it over and over again and decode all of its many different meanings.
I love traveling around promoting different movies because I'm always looking at different places, and I always walk around to see the city.
I love traveling around promoting different movies because I'm always looking at different places, and I always walk around to see the city.
I'm a big fan of the movies of the '60s, more than a fan of the movies of the '70s.
I'm a big fan of the movies of the '60s, more than a fan of the movies of the '70s.
I think it's a lot easier to tell a war story about two sides of a conflict with one another as opposed to one side in conflict with itself.
I think it's a lot easier to tell a war story about two sides of a conflict with one another as opposed to one side in conflict with itself.
I was writing from the time I was 12 years old, but I originally wanted to be a novelist.
I was writing from the time I was 12 years old, but I originally wanted to be a novelist.
My films do very well on home video.
My films do very well on home video.
I've rewritten other films and watched my writing be mutilated, but luckily, it's been mutilated anonymously.
I've rewritten other films and watched my writing be mutilated, but luckily, it's been mutilated anonymously.
Knowledge is death in my experience. The more I know about film, the harder it is to create freely.
Knowledge is death in my experience. The more I know about film, the harder it is to create freely.
Ideally, I'd like to have a movie that people like and makes money.
Ideally, I'd like to have a movie that people like and makes money.
I've always been fascinated with Navy SEALs in general and their role in Afghanistan in particular.
I've always been fascinated with Navy SEALs in general and their role in Afghanistan in particular.
Directing my own writing, I see that I talk way too much, and everything can happen much sooner, with much less said about it.
Directing my own writing, I see that I talk way too much, and everything can happen much sooner, with much less said about it.
For everything you give an audience, you always have to take one thing away. They always have to pay for the story.
For everything you give an audience, you always have to take one thing away. They always have to pay for the story.
Directing has completely changed the way I write and watch films.
Directing has completely changed the way I write and watch films.
I always feel like an outsider. I'll always feel like the nerd at the party.
I always feel like an outsider. I'll always feel like the nerd at the party.
I am not interested in telling you what to think. My job is to show you what I think. Period.
I am not interested in telling you what to think. My job is to show you what I think. Period.
When you're making a film, you don't really have time to consider what the whole of your film is. And then, when you're releasing your film ...Show more »
When you're making a film, you don't really have time to consider what the whole of your film is. And then, when you're releasing your film and promoting your film, you're looking at it in a different way. Then, as you move away from it, you start to look at it objectively and think, "What could I have done better?". Show less «
To me, the ultimate crime in an adaptation is the crime of reverence. A novel is one form of media, a screenplay is another, and a movie is ...Show more »
To me, the ultimate crime in an adaptation is the crime of reverence. A novel is one form of media, a screenplay is another, and a movie is yet another. There's even reverence to a screenplay. Show less «
You've gotta understand: in July of '44, the Allies were still contained on the peninsula in western France and the destruction of Europe ha...Show more »
You've gotta understand: in July of '44, the Allies were still contained on the peninsula in western France and the destruction of Europe had not really begun. War had not really touched the European continent at that point. Show less «
I'm saying, let's learn to reacquire a respect for the power of guns. This culture is so indifferent and disrespectful of guns that we shoul...Show more »
I'm saying, let's learn to reacquire a respect for the power of guns. This culture is so indifferent and disrespectful of guns that we should be terrified. Show less «
Look: the day I've made a movie that I think is really good, I hope I say it out loud so somebody can say, "Then you probably made the worst...Show more »
Look: the day I've made a movie that I think is really good, I hope I say it out loud so somebody can say, "Then you probably made the worst movie of your entire career.". Show less «
I honestly never wanted to direct. It was only when I started to work on Alexander the Great that I realized I had to direct. I saw somethin...Show more »
I honestly never wanted to direct. It was only when I started to work on Alexander the Great that I realized I had to direct. I saw something so specifically in my mind, I could not leave it to someone else. Show less «
The truth of the matter is movies are a reflection of life and violence is a real part of life. I don't think you could make movies exclusiv...Show more »
The truth of the matter is movies are a reflection of life and violence is a real part of life. I don't think you could make movies exclusively where there was no violence. Show less «
The one thing that frustrates me more than anything else is that no studio has ever told me to tone down violence. They only ask you to make...Show more »
The one thing that frustrates me more than anything else is that no studio has ever told me to tone down violence. They only ask you to make it more presentable. Show less «
When you've written a film and directed it and it comes out exactly as you imagined it, it's pretty boring.
When you've written a film and directed it and it comes out exactly as you imagined it, it's pretty boring.
History tends to take the simplest possible view. As soon as you start to scratch the surface of any historical event, it starts to become m...Show more »
History tends to take the simplest possible view. As soon as you start to scratch the surface of any historical event, it starts to become more and more complicated, which is not the stuff of Hollywood films. Complications tend to break down the budget. Show less «
What makes a movie now is a package, a brand, a remake or some preexisting material.
What makes a movie now is a package, a brand, a remake or some preexisting material.
There is no 'Top Gun 2' in which Maverick is not the starring role.
There is no 'Top Gun 2' in which Maverick is not the starring role.
With 'Rubicon', Mark Long and Dan Capel have created the perfect environment for an intense action franchise.
With 'Rubicon', Mark Long and Dan Capel have created the perfect environment for an intense action franchise.
Christopher McQuarrie's Photos
