Stephen Hopkins (director)

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Stephen Hopkins is a Jamaican-born[citation needed] British-Australian[citation needed] director and producer of film and television. He directed Predator 2, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Blown Away, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Lost in Space and Under Suspicion. He also produced and directed several episodes of the first season of 24.

Career

Film

In Australia Hopkins made Dangerous Game (1987). This helped him get the job directing A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. Hopkins later said, "I went at it like a dog, and had a wild, fun time. But when I look back, I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world because I don't understand how it all happened."[1]

He went on to make Predator 2, of which he said, "I'm pretty immature, really, so it was kind of a laugh".[1] He followed it with Judgment Night ("a real, absolute, total bomb" according to Hopkins[1]), Blown Away ("made a lot of mistakes"[1]) and The Ghost and the Darkness ("It was a mess. I haven't been able to watch it."[1]).

In 2016, Hopkins directed Race, a biopic about athlete Jesse Owens for Focus Features.[2][3] Stephan James plays Jesse Owens, opposite Jason Sudeikis and Jeremy Irons. The film was released in February 2016.

Hopkins said that after Predator 2 he "looked around for a good film for a long time, and I couldn't get anything I wanted to do... I didn't realise the Hollywood trick. In American action movies, people get shot to death and their arms are blown off, and they get up and they're fine. These films are supposed to be fun things that people can laugh at. I always thought, 'That's wrong, that's not what violence is like.' I took these films too seriously and tried to add profound depths, and that's not what's wanted. You either do that film or you do the other one, but I kept mixing the two up, and probably unsuccessfully.'"[1]

Television

Hopkins has directed a number of episodes for television. He was a co-executive producer for the first season of the Fox action drama 24, and also directed half of the season's episodes, including the first and last episodes. He is also co-executive producer on 24: Legacy, and director of the show's pilot episode. Hopkins has also directed a number of episodes of Showtime's series House of Lies starring Don Cheadle which premiered on 8 January 2012. He is also a producer on the series.

In 2004, Hopkins directed the controversial biographical film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, which was broadcast by HBO in the United States but received a theatrical release in a number of countries. The film provoked the ire of the actor's son Michael Sellers and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special.[4]

in 2019 Hopkins directed the pilot episode for a potential The Dark Tower series for Amazon.[5] However Amazon passed on the series.[6]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Notes
1986 Highlander Second Unit Director
1987 Dangerous Game Director / Co-writer
1989 A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child Nominated for:
1990 Predator 2 Nominated for:
1993 Judgment Night
1994 Blown Away
1996 The Ghost and the Darkness
1998 Lost in Space Producer / Director
1999 Tube Tales Producer and director/ writer 1 segment
2000 Under Suspicion Producer / Director
2007 The Reaping Producer / Director
2016 Race Producer / Director

Television

Year Title Notes
1991-94 Tales from the Crypt 3 episodes
2001-02 24 Director / co-executive producer

Pilot and 12 episodes Nominated:
2004 Traffic Miniseries – executive producer / director

3 episodes

Nominated:
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Television film

Won:

Nominated:
2007-13 Californication Executive producer / director

Pilot and 2 episodes
2009 The Unusuals Executive producer / director

Pilot Episode
In Plain Sight 1 episode
2010 Thorne Executive producer / director

4 hour mini series Won:
2011 Shameless 1 episode
2012-14 House of Lies Executive producer / director

Pilot and 23 episodes
2016 Houdini & Doyle Executive producer / director

Miniseries Pilot and 1 episode
2016-17 24: Legacy Executive producer / director

Pilot and 2 episodes
2019 The Dark Tower Executive producer / director

Pilot
2020 The Fugitive 14 episodes

References

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External links

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  4. ↑ The Guardian UK Biopic's many strange faces of Peter Sellers incense the actor's son Fiachra Gibbons in Cannes Tuesday 19 May 2003 The Guardian
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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