Scott Derrickson
Birthdate: Jul 16, 1966
Birthplace: Denver, Colorado, USA
Horror/Science Fiction specialist Scott Derrickson is known for juggling tasks on successful projects including The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), and Doctor Strange (2016). He frequently writes, directs, and produces his films, including The Black Phone (2022), with Ethan Hawke and Jeremy Davies. Scott Derrickson established his name in the increasingly hot genre of horror genre with his script for Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), and in the same year, came out with his writing-directing debut, Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), with Craig Sheffer.
Derrickson’s next work as screenwriter shifted in a non-genre direction, with a script for Wim Wenders’ contemporary Western, Land of Plenty (2004), but then returned successfully to horror as writer-director of box office hit, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, with Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Campbell Scott. Derrickson’s first assignment purely as director (and his first on a big-budget movie) was the top-earning remake, The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), with Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, and John Cleese.
Derrickson’s first collaboration with Ethan Hawke was the horror film, Sinister (2012), with Juliet Rylance and James Ransome, followed by another variation on the exorcism theme, Deliver Us from Evil (2014), with Eric Bana and Edgar Ramirez. In between, Derrickson co-wrote the script for Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot (2013), based on the trial case of “The West Memphis Three,” with Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon.
Scott Derrickson graduated to the big-budget Marvel Comics Universe in 2016 with Doctor Strange, with Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton, and Michael Stuhlbarg, reaching a worldwide gross of nearly $678 million. Similarly, as he did on Sinister 2 (2015), in which he opted not to direct and instead write and produce, Derrickson chose to serve only as executive producer for the sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
Instead, he worked as writer-producer-director on the Blumhouse-produced child abduction drama, The Black Phone, reuniting with Hawke and Ransome, along with Jeremy Davies. Derrickson’s reported next directing-producing assignment is The Gorge, based on Zach Dean’s screenplay and being co-produced by Derrickson’s company, Crooked Highway. He is also set to direct a sequel to Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (1986), being produced by TriStar Pictures.
Personal Details
Born in Denver, Colorado, Scott Derrickson graduated from the Christian-based Biola University with double Bachelor of Arts degrees in humanities (literature and philosophy emphasis) and communication (theology and film emphasis). He attended USC’s School of Cinematic Arts for graduate work. Derrickson has two children.
Filmography
actor
Previous (4)
- 2022 | The Black PhoneasProducer(produced by)
The Black Phone
After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer's previous victims.
- 2016 | Doctor StrangeasDirector(directed by)
Doctor Strange
While on a journey of physical and spiritual healing, a brilliant neurosurgeon is drawn into the world of the mystic arts.
- 2014 | Deliver Us from EvilasDirector
Deliver Us from Evil
New York police officer Ralph Sarchie investigates a series of crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest, schooled in the rites of exorcism, to combat the possessions that are terrorizing their city.
- 2012 |
