David Frankel
Birthdate: Apr 2, 1959
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
David Frankel is a veteran Hollywood director/writer/producer who began his career as a screenwriter, first for the Leonard Nimoy-directed rom com starring Gene Wilder, Funny About Love (1990), co-written by Norman Steinberg, co-starring Christine Lahti, Mary Stuart Masterson, Robert Prosky, Stephen Tobolowsky, David Margulies, Wendie Malick, Anne Jackson, Regis Philbin and Patrick Ewing, and grossing over $8 million for Paramount Pictures. Frankel was the solo screenwriter of the comedy, Nervous Ticks (1992), starring Bill Pullman, Julie Brown, and Peter Boyle under Rocky Lang’s direction, and distributed in a limited pattern by Arrow Releasing.
Frankel made his feature debut as director/writer/producer of the rom com, Miami Rhapsody (1995), starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Mia Farrow, Antonio Banderas, Gil Bellows, Paul Mazursky, Kevin Pollak, Barbara Garrick, Carla Gugino, Naomi Campbell, Jeremy Piven, Ben Stein and Donal Logue, produced by Hollywood Pictures/Cantaloupe Production and released by Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures Distribution to a $10 million return. Frankel won the Best Live Action Short Film Oscar for his first short film, Dear Diary (1996), and then ten years passed before he had his first big hit as director only with The Devil Wears Prada (2006), adapted by screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna from Lauren Weisberger’s best-selling 2003 novel, starring Meryl Streep (Oscar-nominated for Best Actress), Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, Emily Blunt and Adrian Grenier, grossing a phenomenal (based on estimated costs) $326.7 million for producers Fox 2000 Pictures/Wendy Finerman Productions and distributor 20th Century Fox.
David Frankel was director of the commercially successful comedy-drama co-written by Scott Frank and Don Roos based on John Grogan’s 2005 memoir, Marley & Me (2008), co-starring Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Dane, and Alan Arkin, generating a strong $248 million global gross for producers Fox 2000 Pictures/Regency Enterprises/Dune Entertainment/Sunswept Entertainment and distributor 20th Century Fox. Frankel directed the comedy, The Big Year (2011), adapted by Howard Franklin from Mark Obmascik’s 2004 non-fiction book, The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession, co-starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, but it was a commercial failure (based on estimated costs) with a $7.4 million gross for 20th Century Fox.
Frankel, as director, had his second hit with star Meryl Streep, Hope Springs (2012), co-starring Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell, with Elisabeth Shue, Jean Smart, and Mimi Rogers, backed by both Columbia Pictures and MGM (among other producers) and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing (U.S.-Canada)/Lionsgate (International) for a $114.3 million global gross. Frankel directed his first biopic drama, One Chance (2013), starring James Corden portraying Britain’s Got Talent winner and opera singer Paul Potts, with Julie Walters, Alexandra Roach, and Colm Meaney, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and grossing a poor (based on estimated costs) $10.9 million for Entertainment Film Distributors.
David Frankel continued in the dramatic vein and returned to commercial success as director of the Will Smith-starring fantasy, Collateral Beauty (2016), written and produced by Allan Loeb, with the ensemble of Edward Norton, Keira Knightley, Michael Pena, Naomie Harris, Jacob Latimore, Kate Winslet and Helen Mirren, backed by seven production companies (including New Line Cinema and Village Roadshow Pictures) and returning $88.5 million for Warner Bros. Pictures. Frankel returned to the director’s chair on a theatrical release after a decade with the long-awaited sequel, The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026), once again co-starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, with Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Justin Theroux, and Kenneth Branagh, produced by Wendy Finerman and released wide by 20th Century Fox.
Personal life
David Frankel was born and raised in New York City by his parents, Max (New York Times columnist) and Tobia. Frankel has one sister, Margot, and one brother, Jon (TV journalist). Frankel has been married to Jennifer Beber since 1998, and lives in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood; the couple has two children. Frankel’s height is 6’.
David Frankel Movies
director
Previous (4)
- 2026 |
The Devil Wears Prada 2
As Miranda Priestly nears retirement, she reunites with Andy Sachs to face off against her former assistant turned rival: Emily Charlton.
- 2016 |
Collateral Beauty
Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time, and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.
- 2012 |
Hope Springs
After thirty years of marriage, a middle-aged couple attends an intense, week-long counseling session to work on their relationship.
- 2006 |
The Devil Wears Prada
With an aspiration to become a journalist, Andy, a smart but sensible young graduate, travels to New York. She starts working as an assistant to one of the city's biggest high fashion magazine editors, the cynical Miranda Priestly.
actor
Previous (1)
- 2024 |
Happy Clothes
asSelf
Enter the colorful world of Patricia Field, the Emmy-winning costume designer behind Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, and The Devil Wears Prada.
Facts About David Frankel
Father Figure: David Frankel’s German-born father, Max Frankel, was the New York Times’ executive editor from 1986 to 1994 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for his reporting on Richard Nixon’s visit to China.
David Frankel News
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