Joe Johnston

Joe Johnston
Joe Johnston
	San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	Austin, Texas, U.S.
Education	ArtCenter College of Design
Alma mater	California State University
Occupations	Film director; film producer; effects artist; art director; writer;
Years active	1977–present
Notable work	Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; Jumanji; Jurassic Park III; Captain America: The First Avenger;

Joe Johnston (born c. 1950) is an American film director, producer, writer, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing effects-driven films, including

The Wolfman (2010); and Captain America: The First Avenger

(2011).

Early life

Johnston was born in

Art Center College of Design

, both for industrial design.

Career

Design and visual effects

Much of the work at the beginning of Johnston's screen career combined design and special effects. He began his career as a concept artist and effects technician on the first

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Lucas and Steven Spielberg's film Raiders of the Lost Ark.^[3]

Johnston continued to work on many films as an effects expert.
He was also associate producer on fantasy Willow, and production designer on two mid-80s TV movies which featured the Ewoks seen in Return of the Jedi.
Johnston is also author of
ISBN 0-394-96568-X).^[4]

In 1984, now 34, Johnston went to Lucas and stated his desire to leave Lucasfilm for a year. However, Lucas offered him to go to USC School of Cinematic Arts and study there for a year, complete with paid tuition and half-salary that would let Johnston take any class he wanted.^[5]^[6] Johnston left after a year, saying he "was asked not to return" because he "broke too many rules".^[7]

Directing

Johnston made his directorial debut in 1989 with hit comedy adventure
comic-book adaptation The Rocketeer (1991). The film was a commercial failure, as was his next, the animated and live-action The Pagemaster, starring Macaulay Culkin. Johnston rebounded, directing the family hit Jumanji, starring Robin Williams. The film overcame lukewarm reviews to gross over $260 million.^[8]

Johnston was set to direct
high school student who dreams of being a rocket scientist for NASA
against his father's wishes.
Johnston's first project of the 2000s was the sequel
The Wolfman. Shot in England, the film starred Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins
.
In part thanks to his experience with the period superhero film The Rocketeer, Johnston was selected to direct Marvel Studios superhero adaptation Captain America: The First Avenger. Released on July 22, 2011,^[10] the film stars Chris Evans as the comic book hero and Hugo Weaving as his archenemy the Red Skull. In 2012, Johnston directed the thriller Not Safe for Work for Blumhouse Productions.
On December 12, 2017, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Johnston would direct 32 days of reshoots on the film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, due to its director Lasse Hallström being unavailable.^[11]
On December 5, 2019, it was reported that Joe Johnston was in negotiations with Disney to direct Shrunk, a legacy sequel to Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.^[12]^[13]

Filmography

Director

Film

Year Title Notes

1989 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

1991 The Rocketeer

1994 The Pagemaster Live-action sequences

1995 Jumanji

1999 October Sky

2001 Jurassic Park III

2004 Hidalgo

2010 The Wolfman

2011 Captain America: The First Avenger Also executive producer

2014 Not Safe for Work

2018 The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Director of reshoots and oversaw post-production;^[14]
Received co-director credit along with Lasse Hallström^[15]

Television

Year Title Notes

1993 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Episode "Princeton, February 1916"

2015 Lumen TV movie;
Also executive producer

Other credits

Film

Year Title Director Role

1977 Star Wars George Lucas Visual effects artist / Cameo as "Death Star Trooper"

1980 The Empire Strikes Back Irvin Kershner Visual effects artist and art director / Cameo as "Captain Shawn Valdez"

1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Spielberg Visual effects artist and art director

1983 Return of the Jedi Richard Marquand Art director

1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Steven Spielberg

1986 Howard the Duck Willard Huyck Ultralight sequence designer

1987 Batteries Not Included Matthew Robbins Second unit director and production manager

1988 Willow Ron Howard Associate producer

1989 Always Steven Spielberg Aerial sequence designer

1999 The Iron Giant Brad Bird Designer of the Iron Giant

2014 The Lawful Truth Mollie Fitzgerald Cameo as "Captain Waters"

Television

Year Title Role

1978–1979 Battlestar Galactica Effects illustration and design

1984 The Ewok Adventure
Production designer (TV movie)

1985 Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

1985–1986 Star Wars: Droids – The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO Screenwriter (Episode "Coby and the Starhunters");
Design consultant (Special: ''The Great Heep")

2017 The Creeps Executive producer (TV short)

2020 Prop Culture Himself (Episode "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids")

2022 Light & Magic Himself (5 episodes)

Bibliography

1977: The Star Wars Sketchbook

1980: The Empire Strikes Back Sketchbook (with Nilo Rodis-Jamero)

1983: Return of the Jedi Sketchbook (with Nilo Rodis-Jamero)

1984: The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense

2005 : Star Wars : Aux origines du mythe (with Doug Chiang)

2007 : The Hill Culture

2011 : The Mack Marsden Murder Mystery

Accolades

Year Award Category Film Result

1981 Academy Award Best Visual Effects
(Shared with Richard Edlund, Kit West and Bruce Nicholson) Raiders of the Lost Ark Won

1990
International Fantasy Film Award
Best Film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Nominated

1992 Hugo Award Best Dramatic Presentation
(Shared with Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, William Dear
and Dave Stevens) The Rocketeer Nominated

1995
International Fantasy Film Award
Best Film
(Shared with Pixote Hunt) The Pagemaster Nominated

1996
Saturn Award
Best Director Jumanji
Nominated

Young Artist Award Best Family Feature – Action-Adventure Won

1999 Ajijic International Film Festival Award Best Film October Sky Won

2001
Saturn Award
Best Science Fiction Film Jurassic Park III Nominated

Golden Trailer Award
Best Horror/Thriller Film Nominated

Golden Raspberry Award

Worst Remake or Sequel
Nominated

2004
Golden Trailer Award
Best Drama Hidalgo Nominated

2010
Saturn Award
Best Horror/Thriller Film The Wolfman
Nominated

2012 Hugo Award Best Dramatic Presentation
(Shared with
Stephen McFeely
) Captain America: The First Avenger Nominated

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Award Best Film Nominated

References

^ Diaz, Victor. "Austin-born Oscar winner directs 'Captain America'" Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Austin.YNN.com, July 22, 2011.

^ EMPIRE AT 40 | DESIGNING AN ICON: JOE JOHNSTON ON THE JOURNEY TO CREATE BOBA FETT

^ Buchanan, Jason. "Film > Film Biography > Joe Johnston", AllMovie.com, n.d.

OL 22325365M
. Retrieved January 11, 2014.

^ "2004 interview with Joe Johnston. Retrieved 12 August 2012". Articles.baltimoresun.com. March 8, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2014.

^ "Back to Jurassic Park with Joe Johnston". July 17, 2001.

^ "2001 filmschoolrejects website interview with Joe Johnston. Retrieved 12 August 2012". Filmschoolrejects.com. July 18, 2011. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2014.

^ "Jumanji (1995) – Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com.

^ Michael Fleming (April 14, 1997). "A Mania For Marvel". Variety. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
Boxoffice
, January 13, 2010

^ Kit, Borys (December 12, 2017). "Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 13, 2017.

^ Kroll, Justin (December 5, 2019). "'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' Director in Talks to Return for Reboot Starring Josh Gad (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.

^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 12, 2020). "Rick Moranis Closes Deal To Return To 'Honey, I Shrunk The Kids' Franchise With 'Shrunk' At Disney". Deadline Hollywood. As previously reported, the pic's original director Joe Johnston will be back

^ Kit, Borys (December 12, 2017). "Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 13, 2017.

^ Kit, Borys (July 5, 2018). "Lasse Hallstrom, Joe Johnston to Share Director Credit on 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 5, 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joe Johnston.

Joe Johnston at
IMDb

v
t
e
Films directed by Joe Johnston

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

The Rocketeer (1991)

The Pagemaster (1994)

Jumanji (1995)

October Sky (1999)

Jurassic Park III (2001)

Hidalgo (2004)

The Wolfman (2010)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Not Safe for Work (2014)

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)

v
t
e
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
1963–1980

Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963)

Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964)

John Stears – Thunderball (1965)

Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966)

L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967)

Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969)

A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett, and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974)

Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975)

Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson, and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976)

John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977)

Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978)

H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979)

Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

1981–2000

Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson, and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983)

Dennis Muren, Michael J. McAlister, Lorne Peterson, and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar, and David Berry – Cocoon (1985)

Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986)

Dennis Muren, Bill George, Harley Jessup, and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987)

Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones, and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989)

Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990)

Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Douglas Smythe, and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992)

Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993)

Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994)

Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan, and John Cox – Babe (1995)

Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney, and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996)

Robert Legato, Mark Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997)

Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson, and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998)

John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999)

John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000)

2001–2020

Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005)

John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007)

Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009)

Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010)

Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011)

Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012)

Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013)

Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014)

Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015)

Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016)

John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018)

Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019)

Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020)

2021–present

Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer – Dune (2021)

Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett – Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima – Godzilla Minus One (2023)

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_Johnston&oldid=1218042068"

[1] Diaz, Victor. "Austin-born Oscar winner directs 'Captain America'" Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Austin.YNN.com, July 22, 2011.

[2] EMPIRE AT 40 | DESIGNING AN ICON: JOE JOHNSTON ON THE JOURNEY TO CREATE BOBA FETT

[3] Buchanan, Jason. "Film > Film Biography > Joe Johnston", AllMovie.com, n.d.

[4] OL 22325365M
. Retrieved January 11, 2014.

[5] "2004 interview with Joe Johnston. Retrieved 12 August 2012". Articles.baltimoresun.com. March 8, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2014.

[6] "Back to Jurassic Park with Joe Johnston". July 17, 2001.

[7] "2001 filmschoolrejects website interview with Joe Johnston. Retrieved 12 August 2012". Filmschoolrejects.com. July 18, 2011. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2014.

[boxofficemojo.com-8] "Jumanji (1995) – Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com.

[9] Michael Fleming (April 14, 1997). "A Mania For Marvel". Variety. Retrieved November 10, 2008.

[amy-10] Boxoffice
, January 13, 2010

[11] Kit, Borys (December 12, 2017). "Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 13, 2017.

[12] Kroll, Justin (December 5, 2019). "'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' Director in Talks to Return for Reboot Starring Josh Gad (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.

[13] D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 12, 2020). "Rick Moranis Closes Deal To Return To 'Honey, I Shrunk The Kids' Franchise With 'Shrunk' At Disney". Deadline Hollywood. As previously reported, the pic's original director Joe Johnston will be back

[14] Kit, Borys (December 12, 2017). "Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 13, 2017.

[15] Kit, Borys (July 5, 2018). "Lasse Hallstrom, Joe Johnston to Share Director Credit on 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 5, 2018.

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