Simon West
Birthdate: Mar 3, 1961
Birthplace: Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Simon West (birthname: Simon Alexander West) is a British-born director/producer of brawny entertainments like his feature directorial debut for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Con Air (1997), starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Colm Meaney, Mykelti Williamson and Rachel Ticotin, and delivering a strong $224 million take for Touchstone Pictures/Buena Vista Pictures.
West returned as director for the military-based mystery, The General’s Daughter (1999), starring John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton, Clarence Williams III, and James Woods, with poor reviews and fair box office for Paramount Pictures.
West was director and a story writer for the video game adaptation, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), starring Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, Iain Glen, Noah Taylor and Daniel Craig, which was critically lambasted but earning a decent $274.7 million for distributors Paramount Pictures (U.S.)/United International Pictures (U.K.)/Concorde Filmverleih (Germany)/Toho-Towa (Japan).
West was again the director of a movie that critics disliked but audiences moderately liked with his first foray into the psychological horror genre with When a Stranger Calls (2006), a remake of the 1979 movie, with Camilla Belle, Brian Geraghty, Katie Cassidy and Clark Gregg, grossing $67 million for Screen Gems/Sony Pictures Releasing.
Simon West directed his first of three movies starring or co-starring Jason Statham with the action movie, The Mechanic (2011), a remake of director Lewis John Carlino’s 1972 movie, with Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn, and Donald Sutherland, and returning a modest $76.3 million for distributor CBS Films.
West continued with co-star Statham as director of the hit sequel, The Expendables 2 (2012), co-starring Sylvester Stallone (who co-wrote with Richard Wenk), Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crewes, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth and Yu Nan, grossing a solid $315 million for producers Millennium Films/Nu Image and distributor Lionsgate.
West as director, then reunited with his Con Air co-star Nicolas Cage for the thriller, Stolen (2012), with Danny Huston, Malin Akerman, Sami Gayle, and Josh Lucas, resulting in a box-office bomb for producer and distributor Millennium Entertainment and Films and a poor 18% Rotten Tomatoes review score.
West reunited with the usually commercially reliable Jason Statham for the action movie, Wild Card (2015), based on screenwriter William Goldman’s own 1985 novel, Heat, but it also was a box-office failure (this time for Lionsgate), despite a colorful supporting cast including Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Anne Heche, Sofia Vergara, Max Casella, Jason Alexander, Hope Davis and Stanley Tucci.
Simon West was director/producer on another commercial disaster, the U.K.-backed action comedy, Gun Shy (2016), co-starring Antonio Banderas and Olga Kurylenko and released by Saban Films, and then
West fared no better as director of the British action thriller, Stratton (2017), based on co-screenwriter Duncan Falconer’s Stratton series, starring Dominic Cooper, Gemma Chan, and Austin Stowell, and released by Vertigo Films. West ventured to China for the first time as director for the Chinese-producer disaster movie, Skyfire (2019), with a cast of leading actors from the China and U.K. movie world including Wang Xueqi, Hannah Quinlivan, Shawn Dou and Jason Isaacs, and earning a decent $25 million return and landing in the opening week top spot in Chinese box office rankings.
West returned to the big-screen director’s chair after a five-year pause with the poorly received action comedy, Old Guy (2025), co-starring Christoph Waltz, Lucy Liu, and Cooper Hoffman, and released by The Avenue. West then returned to the Chinese film industry as co-director with screenwriter Li Yifan for the tomb-raider action movie, The Legend Hunters (2025), starring Zhang Hanyu and based on Zhang Muye’s novel series, Ghost Blows Out the Light, and released by Wanda Pictures and Saints Entertainment.
Simon West revisited his action comedy mode as director for the Rebel Wilson-starring Bride Hard (2025), co-starring Anna Camp, Anna Chlumsky, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Gigi Zumbado, Stephen Dorff, and Justin Hartley, produced by Balcony 9/Elevated and released wide by Magenta Light Studios.
West reunited with star Jason Isaacs for the U.S. Presidential thriller, Raider (date to be announced), co-starring Aaron Eckhart and written by J. Craig Stiles, and then West continued his busy schedule as director of the sci-fi/alien thriller, Lifeform (date to be announced), with co-writer/star Ice Cube producing through his Cube Vision film production company and Cliffside Films.
Simon West Photos and Videos
Personal life
Simon West was born and raised in the British town of Letchworth in the county of Hertfordshire by his parents. West’s estimated net worth is $15 million.
Known For
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
(2001)
The General's Daughter
(1999)
Con Air
(1997)
Wild Card
(2015)
Simon West Movies
director
Previous (4)
- 2025 |
- 2021 |
- 2012 |
The Expendables 2
Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.
- 2001 |
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Adventurer Lara Croft explores lost empires and discovers immeasurable treasures in her daily life, but a secret from the past of her father, a missing archaeologist, will lead her to one of her greatest challenges.
actor
Previous (9)
Facts About Simon West
Video Maker: Simon West had a very successful career as a music video director before his durable feature filmmaking career, delivering such hit videos as Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
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