Wikipedia

John Logan (writer)

John David Logan (born September 24, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and producer. His film work includes Gladiator (2000), The Last Samurai (2003), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), The Aviator (2004), Hugo (2011), James Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015), and Michael (2026). He has a Tony Award and has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has received Golden Globe, BAFTA, WGA, Edgar, and PEN Center awards.

John Logan
Logan in 2009
Born
John David Logan

(1961-09-24) September 24, 1961 (age 64)
EducationNorthwestern University
Occupations
  • Playwright
  • screenwriter
  • producer
Years active1985–present
AwardsFull list

Life and career

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Early years and education

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Logan's parents immigrated to the United States from Northern Ireland via Canada. The youngest of three children, he has an older brother and sister. Logan grew up in California and Millburn, New Jersey, where he graduated from Millburn High School in 1979.[1] He moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where he graduated in 1983.[2]

Stage

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Logan was a successful playwright in Chicago for many years before turning to screenwriting. His first play, Never the Sinner, tells the story of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case.

His play Red, about artist Mark Rothko, was produced by the Donmar Warehouse, London, in December 2009,[6] and on Broadway in 2010, where it received six Tony Awards, the most of any play, including best play, best direction of a play for Michael Grandage and best featured actor in a play for Eddie Redmayne. Redmayne and Alfred Molina had originated their roles in London and also performed on Broadway, for a limited run ending in late June.[7]

Two plays by Logan premiered in 2013; Peter and Alice, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw opened in London at the Noël Coward Theatre on March 25, 2013, and I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Bette Midler, opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on April 24, 2013.[8]

Superhero, a musical by Logan and Tom Kitt, had its world premiere production Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater, with an official opening night on February 28, 2019.[9]

Swept Away, a musical by Logan, directed by Michael Mayer, and featuring music from The Avett Brothers, tells the story of four men shipwrecked in 1888, each facing questions of existentialism and morality. It opened at Peet's Theatre at Berkeley Repertory on January 9, 2022. It later moved to Broadway, opening at the Longacre Theatre on November 19, 2024.

Logan's play Double Feature, about filmmaking and the relationship between director and star, opened at the Hampstead Theatre, London, on February 8, 2024.[10]

He also wrote the book for the Tony Award winning best musical Moulin Rouge, which opened on Broadway on July 25th, 2019, and has been produced around the world.

Film and TV

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Logan wrote the 1999 Oliver Stone sports drama Any Given Sunday, which "changed his life".[3] He then wrote the television film RKO 281, a historical drama released in the same year.

He co-wrote Gladiator (2000), directed by Ridley Scott, followed by Star Trek: Nemesis and The Time Machine, both released in 2002. In 2003, he co-wrote The Last Samurai, directed by Edward Zwick, and wrote Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. Logan later wrote The Aviator (2004), directed by Martin Scorsese, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), directed by Tim Burton.

Logan's feature films include three films released in 2011: Rango, an animated feature starring Johnny Depp and directed by Gore Verbinski; the film adaptation of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes; and Hugo, an adaptation of the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, directed by Martin Scorsese. He also wrote James Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015), along with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.

In November 2015, Logan was reported to have rewritten the script for Alien: Covenant.[11][12].

Logan made his feature directorial debut in 2022 with They/Them, a slasher film from Blumhouse Films released via the streaming service Peacock.[13]

In November 2019, it was reported that Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King was planning to produce a Michael Jackson biopic, with the screenplay written by Logan[14]. The film, Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, was released in 2026 and opened to a record-breaking box office debut, grossing approximately $97 million domestically and $217 million worldwide, the largest opening weekend for a musical biopic and one of the biggest debuts of the year.[15]

Logan also created the 2014 television series Penny Dreadful starring Josh Hartnett, Eva Green and Timothy Dalton. The show aired on Showtime in United States and Sky Atlantic in United Kingdom. In November 2018, it was announced that Showtime would produce a follow-up to the series entitled Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, which takes place in Los Angeles in 1938. Logan was the creator and executive producer for the show, which premiered in 2020 and ran for one season, starring Daniel Zovatto, Nathan Lane, and Natalie Dormer.

Personal life and other activities

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Logan is openly gay.[1]. He is married to Irish choreographer Tommy Tonge. Logan is actively involved in philanthropic activities through his charitable foundation, which supports arts education, access to live theatre, and supporting environmental conservation.

He is a major benefactor of a small independent theatre company in Adelaide, South Australia, run by Rob Croser, called Independent Theatre.

Works

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Selected plays

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Logan's plays include:[3]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Writer Producer Director
1999 Bats Yes Executive Louis Morneau
Any Given Sunday Yes No Oliver Stone
2000 Gladiator Yes No Ridley Scott
2002 The Time Machine Yes Co-producer Simon Wells
Star Trek: Nemesis Yes No Stuart Baird
2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Yes No Tim Johnson
Patrick Gilmore
The Last Samurai Yes No Edward Zwick
2004 The Aviator Yes No Martin Scorsese
2007 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Yes Yes Tim Burton
2011 Rango Yes No Gore Verbinski
Coriolanus Yes Yes Ralph Fiennes
Hugo Yes No Martin Scorsese
2012 Skyfall Yes No Sam Mendes
2014 Jamie Marks Is Dead No Executive Carter Smith
2015 Spectre Yes No Sam Mendes
2016 Genius Yes Yes Michael Grandage
2017 Alien: Covenant Yes No Ridley Scott
2022 They/Them Yes No Himself
2026 Michael Yes No Antoine Fuqua

Television

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Year Title Creator Writer Executive producer Notes
1996 Tornado! No Yes No Television film
1999 RKO 281 No Yes No
2014–2016 Penny Dreadful Yes Yes Yes Executive producer (27 episodes); writer (24 episodes)
2020 Penny Dreadful: City of Angels Yes Yes Yes Executive producer (10 episodes); writer (6 episodes)

Accolades

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References

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  1. ↑ "Millburn High Students Hear from Tony and Oscar Award-Winning Writer" Archived July 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, TAP into Millburn, November 16, 2010. Accessed July 3, 2019. "On November 11, some Millburn High School drama and film students learned firsthand about playwriting and screenwriting from the 2010 Tony Award winner, John Logan. Logan, a 1979 graduate of Millburn High School, was invited back to his alma mater by student Ben Lippman, whose mother Janice was a college classmate of Logan’s at Northwestern University."
  2. ↑ Stockwell, Anne (March 1, 2005). "Logan's run: one of Hollywood's hottest screenwriters, The Aviator's John Logan proves that you don't have to be straight to write the blockbusters". The Advocate.
  3. ↑ "John Logan". doollee.com. September 11, 2001. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
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