Happy 54th Birthday, James Gunn! Born today in 1966 as James Francis Gunn Jr., this American screenwriter, producer and film director began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s.
Growing up, Gunn was influenced by low-budget films such as George A. Romero's 1968 American black and white independent horror drama/science fiction film 'Night of the Living Dead'.
Gunn had also been influenced by American filmmaker, director, producer, and writer Sean S. Cunningham's 1980 American horror mystery/slasher film 'Friday the 13th'.
Gunn read magazines like the internationally distributed American horror film fan Fangoria and attended genre movie screenings.
This included Romero's 1978 American/Italian independent horror/zombie film 'Dawn of the Dead' at the three screen Tivoli Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri.
At the age of twelve, Gunn began making 8 mm zombie films with his brothers in the woods near their home.
While studying at Saint Louis University in the early 1990s, Gunn created political cartoons for the school's student weekly, The University News.
Gunn said later on that, at an unspecified time in his college education, "I went to two years undergraduate film school at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. But I was pretty screwed up at the time, and had to leave.
Years later I went to graduate school at the Columbia University School of Fine Arts but I studied prose writing, not film writing." He earned a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University in 1995.
Later in 1995, Gunn began his career in filmmaking with American independent film production and distribution company Troma Entertainment.
This was for co-writing the 1997 American independent transgressive romantic black comedy/cult film 'Tromeo and Juliet'.
Working alongside his mentor, American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor Lloyd Kaufman (also the co-founder of Troma), Gunn learned how to write screenplays, produce films, scout locations, direct actors, distribute films, and create his own poster art.
In the early 2000s, Gunn co-conceived the story and wrote for the 2002 American live-action/computer-animated supernatural adventure comedy mystery film 'Scooby-Doo'.
Two years later, Gunn wrote the screenplay for the sequel, being the 2004 American live-action/computer-generated horror comedy mystery family film 'Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed'.
However, due to its poor reception, this resulted in a third film, set to be written and directed by Gunn, to be cancelled.
In the late 2000s, Gunn began working as a writer and director, starting with the 2008 American science fiction horror comedy film 'Slither'.
Gunn also co-created (along with his two brothers), wrote and directed the American comedy web series James Gunn's PG Porn (2008–2009), and the 2010 American superhero black comedy/action film 'Super'.
Three years later, Gunn wrote and directed the sequence Beezel in the 2013 American anthology comedy/romance film 'Movie 43'. He had co-directed the film as well.
The following year, Gunn moved to the superhero genre. In doing so, he co-wrote and directed the film of which he is best known.
This was the 2014 American superhero action/sci-fi film 'Guardians of the Galaxy' (retroactively referred to as 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1'). The film was based on the titular Marvel® comic books, first appearing in Marvel Super-Heros #18 (Jan. 1969).
Upon release, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' became a critical and commercial success, grossing $772.8 million worldwide. It also became the highest-grossing superhero film of 2014, as well as the third-highest-grossing film of 2014.
It was later praised for its screenplay, direction, acting, humor, soundtrack, visual effects, and action sequences.
The following year, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' received Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. This occurred at the 87th Academy Awards in late February 2015.
Two years later, Gunn would continue with the superhero drama in writing and directing the second installment of the GOTG series. This was with the 2017 American superhero action/adventure film 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vo. 2'.
Gunn chose to set the sequel shortly after the first film to explore the characters' new roles as the Guardians, and to follow the storyline of Quill's father established throughout that previous film.
In July 2016, Kurt Russell was confirmed as Quill's father portraying Ego, a departure from Quill's comic father.
Though not thrillingly fresh as its predecessor, the film was also a commercial success. It grossed $863.8 million at the box office against a budget of $200 million.
One year later, 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' received a nomination for Best Visual Effects. This occurred at the 90th Academy Awards in early March 2018.
In 'Guardians of the Galaxy', Stan Lee had a brief cameo appearance, credited as Xandarian Ladies' Man. In 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2', he also had a brief cameo appearance, credited as Watcher Informant.
Of his three brothers, the most notable is American actor Kirk Gunn. He is known for his roles in The WB's American comedy-drama television series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007).
According to his personal life, Gunn married to American actress Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer in 2000. She is best known for portraying Pam Beesly on NBC's American mockumentary sitcom television series The Office (2005–2013). Later on, they were divorced in 2008.
Kirk is also known for appearing in 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2', credited as Kraglin/On Set Rocket.
A sequel, 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3', is currently in development, with Gunn returning as writer and director.
Gunn has been active from 1989–present.
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