Paul Anderson: filmography and personal life of the director

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Paul Anderson (full name Paul William Scott Anderson), English screenwriter, director and producer, born March 4, 1965 in Newcastle, UK.

Since the name Anderson is quite common, there were some incidents. Paul William was often confused with the American director, whose name is Paul Thomas Anderson, he is only five years younger than his English counterpart. However, apart from the same name and surname, nothing unites them. To somehow indicate the difference in names, the Englishman Paul Anderson added the letters W. S. (William Scott) to his initials.

The director and computer games

Distinguish Paul Anderson from other cinematographers first of all by his manner of implementing unique film projects. Anderson became a famous director-producer thanks to films based on the plots of popular computer games. Thus, the director has secured a multi-million audience of fans and participants of these games, because every player wants to see the adventures of their favorite characters on the big screen.

Shopping

However, Paul Anderson's first directorial work was a picture called "Shopping",nothing to do with computer games. On the other hand, the film was distinguished by a deep psychological subtext, when the energy of young and, in general, restless guys was spent on insanely expensive and criminally punishable entertainment - stealing prestigious cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was not even about the theft itself, but about what happened next. The protagonist of the film Billy (young English actor Jude Law) and his girlfriend Jo (actress Sadie Frost) are big fans of shopping. They came up with an unusual shopping experience that excited the imagination. Billy and Joe visited the shops in a somewhat unusual way: in a stolen expensive car, crashing into the window of their favorite market with acceleration.

Anderson's first cult film

In 1995, Paul Anderson directed Mortal Kombat, which became a box office success, grossing over $120 million on a relatively small budget of $30 million. In the center of the plot is the confrontation between the Earth and the dark forces of the Outer World. The ongoing events may end in the death of all mankind as a result of the invasion of the forces of Evil from outside. There is one last fight left to win. This will be the tenth deadly battle, after which - or deliverance, or eternal darkness on the defeated Earth.

Reviews for the film were mixed and mostly negative. Many reviewers noted the mediocre performance of most of the actors, although they unanimously praised the special effects and the film's well-created atmosphere. On Rotten Tomatoes, Poul Anderson's work was bombarded with fresh and rotten"tomatoes". Russian critic Sergei Kudryavtsev has described Mortal Kombat as a "stupid spectacle".

However, the film received a lot of positive feedback from fans of the original Mortal Kombat game, the basis of "Mortal Kombat". Fans of the game noted the authenticity of the atmosphere and the good dynamics of the action. Today, the picture is considered the best interpretation of a computer game in movie format.

Poul Anderson's next film project, Horizon Horizon, was an example of a classic sci-fi thriller with scenes borrowed from a conventional horror film. The picture did not make much impression on the audience and was not put on the same level as the "Mortal Kombat".

Failure

The 1998 film "Soldier", directed by Paul Anderson in the genre of a fantastic action movie, turned out to be a failure. The picture collected only 15 million dollars with a budget of 75 million, repeating the fate of a similar project "Blade Runner" with Harrison Ford. It is worth noting that the film "Blade Runner" was nevertheless unanimously recognized by scientists as the best example of science fiction in the history of cinema.

Second cult movie

In 2002, the US premiere of a new film directed by Paul Anderson called "Resident Evil". The picture was a film version of the computer game of the same name, created byJapanese company Capcom. In the center of the plot, the main character Alice, by chance, got into the labyrinth of the secret laboratory "Anthill", which is part of the research complex of the Umbrella corporation. The lab is run by the Red Queen's central computer, which releases a deadly virus that kills people. Alice feels attacks of amnesia, and when her memory briefly returns, the girl does not believe that everything that pops up in her memories could happen to her. Eventually Alice, with the help of her friends, disables the Red Queen and the entire group leaves the lab.

Mila Jovovich

Paul Anderson once said of Resident Evil that it was "a really scary movie". When the idea arose to adapt a teenage computer game into an adult feature film, it took a call to the Resident Evil company with a promise to follow the storyline and consult on any changes. In 1997, the film studio received the exclusive right to stage the film. Immediately the question arose of choosing the lead actress. Actress Milla Jovovich and Paul Anderson had not yet met at that time, however, the director offered her the main role. Mila really was perfect for the role of Alice, she brilliantly reproduced the difficult image of an amnestic, but fighting girl.

Anderson Scripts

Paul Anderson, director, replaced George Romero, who wrote the script not entirely well, and it was clear that in his interpretationThe film is doomed to fail at the box office. So Romero got fired and the script was rewritten by Paul Anderson. The producers' calculations came true, the film collected at the box office, three times the budget. The musical accompaniment of the picture was at a good level, the sound effects also did not leave much to be desired. At the request of the creator of the game, Capcom, elements from all variants were widely used in the film: Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Apocalypse

In 2004, the sequel to the film "Resident Evil" with Mila Jovovich as Alice was filmed. The picture was called "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" and was a continuation of the first series in 2002, with the same characters, the same scene and a completely predictable ending. The script for the sequel was written by Paul Anderson, but this time it was directed not by him, but by Alexander Witt, who simply followed the already established production scheme. And since "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" also performed well at the box office with a relatively small budget, it was decided to launch the third film project "Resident Evil: Extinction". The script for the third film was written by Paul Anderson, who also acted as a producer. Russell Mulcahy sat in the director's chair this time.

Resident Evil series

"Resident Evil 3" - a film about the disastrous effects of the Virus, which got out of control and destroyed all life on earth. Only those who survivedhad access to the antivirus, including Alice. The girl acquired supernatural abilities, gained fantastic strength, and only for satellites in space she was vulnerable. Therefore, Alice is constantly on the alert, looking only up.

Paul Anderson, whose photos have already begun to appear on the pages of glossy magazines, wrote the script for the next film "Resident Evil 4: Afterlife". The picture was released in 2010 and again broke the record of box office success, collecting about 300 million dollars. The main character and this time was played by Milla Jovovich, embodying the image of Alice, surrounded by a large number of her own clones. The survivors have already climbed out of the ground, but huge hordes of zombies have filled the whole space, and the Umbrella corporation still rules the roost.

Filmography

And finally, "Resident Evil 5: Retribution", Anderson's last film in 2012. In this film project, Paul Anderson is the director and screenwriter. In addition, he is also a co-producer of the picture. The role of the main character was still played by Milla Jovovich. In the center of the plot is the same Umbrella corporation, which either tries to destroy Alice or provides her support, depending on the mood of the leadership and on who is currently in charge of Umbrella: Albert Wesker or someone else. Box office receipts were still strong, around $240 million. Paul Anderson, whose filmography already includes about 20 films, is full of creative plans and continues to shoot. He acts as a director when the script is writtenthem themselves. All the films of Poul Anderson, the list of which can be divided into two parts: computer games in the format of a full-length motion picture and all the rest, one way or another, deserve attention.

Private life

The personal life of director and screenwriter Paul William Scott Anderson exemplifies integrity and consistency. Paul had a long relationship with one of the most beautiful and talented movie stars in Hollywood, Mila Jovovich, who starred in many of his films. The relationship between the director and the actress at first was friendly and businesslike, but then moved to a more intimate plane, and on November 5, 2007 they had a daughter, who was named Eve Gabo. In the summer of 2009, Paul Anderson and Milla Jovovich registered their marriage.