Jay Roach
Birthdate: Jun 14, 1957
Birthplace: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Jay Roach (birthname: Matthew Jay Roach) has directed and produced a wide range of highly profitable comedies and—more recently—fact-based dramas and is particularly known as director and/or producer of the two successful comedy franchises, Austin Powers and Meet the Parents. Roach’s feature debut (as M. Jay Roach) was as director (with credited co-director Jesse Wells) of the indie comedy, Zoo Radio (1990), but which Roach disowned, claiming that Wells tampered with his version.
Roach (again credited as M. Jay Roach) was co-writer of the thriller, Blown Away (1994), co-starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones, with Lloyd Bridges, Forest Whitaker, and Suzy Amis under Stephen Hopkins’s direction, and released by producer MGM for a $52.7 million gross. Roach made his commercial breakthrough as director of the mega-hit triple play of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) $18, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) $33 and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) $63, all written by, produced and starring Mike Myers, with recurring cast mates Elizabeth Hurley, Seth Green, Robert Wagner, Michael York and Mindy Sterling, and which grossed a combined $677 million on a combined $114 million total of production costs for lead producer New Line Productions and distributor New Line Cinema.
Jay Roach directed his first comedy-drama with the hockey-themed Mystery, Alaska (1999), co-written by David E. Kelley (who was also lead producer) and Sean O’Byrne, co-starring Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria, Mary McCormack, Lolita Davidovich, Ron Eldard, Colm Meaney, Maury Chaikin and Burt Reynolds, but which lost money for Disney/Hollywood Pictures with a $9 million return on a $28 million budget.
Roach successfully launched a new hyphenate phase of his career the following year as director/producer of Meet the Parents (2000), co-starring Robert De Niro (who also produced with partner Jane Rosenthal) and Ben Stiller, with Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo and which launched the sequel, Meet the Fockers (2004), both of which earned a combined take of $853 (both costing a combined $135 million) for Tribeca Productions and distributors Universal Pictures (U.S./Canada) and DreamWorks Pictures (rest-of-world); Roach continued with the Meet the Parents franchise as a producer only on the sequels Little Fockers (2010), again with De Niro, Stiller, Wilson and Danner, under Paul Weitz’s direction and grossing $310.7 million for Universal/Paramount Pictures, as well as the sequel, Focker In-Law (2026), reuniting the original lead cast members with Ariana Grande under the direction of the franchise’s lead writer John Hamburg.
Roach was director/producer of Dinner for Schmucks (2010), adapted by co-writers David Guion and Michael Handelman from director/writer Francis Veber’s original French comedy, Le Dîner de Cons (1998), co-starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, with Zach Galifianakis, Bruce Greenwood and Ron Livingston, and returning a poor $87 million against $69 million costs for distributor Paramount Pictures.
Roach reunited as director/producer with co-star Galifianakis, top-billed with Will Ferrell in the political satire, The Campaign (2012), co-written and produced by Adam McKay, with cast mates Jason Sudeikis, Katherine LaNasa, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd and Brian Cox, but falling far short on the box office front with a $105 million gross against $95 million costs for Warner Bros. Pictures.
Jay Roach departed from his usual comedy niche as director (and also an uncredited producer) of the biopic, Trumbo (2015), adapted by writer John McNamara from Bruce Cook’s 1997 biography about author/screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, starring Bryan Cranston (Oscar-nominated for Best Actor) as Trumbo, with Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman and Michael Stuhlbarg, but grossing a mere $13.3 million on a $10 million budget for distributors Bleecker Street (U.S.)/Entertainment One Features (international) after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival.
Roach was director/producer of another fact-based drama based on scandals at Fox News involving CEO Roger Ailes, Bombshell (2019), co-starring Charlize Theron (who also produced), Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Malcolm McDowell and Allison Janney, and which delivered a return of $61.4 million (on $32 million costs) for Lionsgate Films.
Roach returned to comedy territory as director/producer of The Roses (2025), the remake of the 1989 The War of the Roses and adapted by Tony McNamara from Warren Adler’s 1981 novel of the same title, this time co-starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, and Allison Janney, and released widely by Searchlight Pictures.
Jay Roach was also a producer on The Empty Mirror (1996); The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005); star/writer/producer Sacha Baron Cohen’s hit mockumentary, Borat (2006); Charlie Bartlett (2007); Smother (2008); Brüno (2009), reuniting the Borat team of star/writer/producer Cohen and director Larry Charles; the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler-starring Sisters (2015); and director/writer Peter Landesman’s Watergate-themed drama starring Liam Neeson, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017).
Personal life
Jay Roach was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by his parents, including his father (a military staffer). Roach attended and graduated from Albuquerque’s El Dorado High School in 1975. Roach graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1980 from Stanford University. Roach then attended the University of Southern California film school, from which he graduated in 1986 with an MFA in Film Production. Roach has been married to Bangles lead member Susanna Hoffs since 1993; the couple has two children, Samuel and Jackson. Roach’s height is 6’ ½”. Roach’s estimated net worth is $100 million.
Known For
Jay Roach Movies
actor
Upcoming (1)
Previous (16)
director
Previous (8)
- 2025 |
- 2019 |
- 2016 |
All the Way
Lyndon B. Johnson becomes the President of the United States in the chaotic aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination, and spends his first year in office fighting to pass the Civil Rights Act.
- 2015 |
- 2012 |
The Campaign
An incumbent Representative embroiled in personal scandal faces a no-holds-barred challenge from a naive newcomer funded by two unscrupulous billionaire lobbyist brothers.
- 2004 |
Meet the Fockers
All hell breaks loose when the Byrnes family meets the Focker family for the first time.
- 2002 |
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Upon learning that his father has been kidnapped, Austin Powers must travel to 1975 and defeat the aptly named villain Goldmember, who is working with Dr. Evil.
- 2000 |
Meet the Parents
Chicago male nurse and chronic under-achiever Greg Focker meets his charming teacher girlfriend Pam Byrnes' parents Jack and Dina before proposing, but suspicious Jack is an overprotective former CIA agent - every date's worst nightmare.
Facts About Jay Roach
Conversion: Jay Roach was raised in the Southern Baptist church, but converted to Judaism before marrying rocker Susanna Hoffs.
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