Misplaced Pages

William Monahan: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 21:17, 28 February 2009 editThe exiled genius returns (talk | contribs)3 edits ALTERNATE VERSION HERE: add mention of several of Monahans most controversial articles← Previous edit Latest revision as of 15:12, 26 December 2024 edit undoGuernicaNight (talk | contribs)21 editsm Fixed dead linkTag: Visual edit 
(318 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American screenwriter and novelist}}
{{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}
| name = William J. Monahan
{{BLP sources|date = January 2021}}
| image = WilliamMonahan at LowesBostonCommon cropped higherquality.jpg
{{Infobox writer
| imagesize = 130px
| name = William Monahan
| caption = William Monahan, at '']'''s Boston Premiere, Loews Boston Common, on October 3, 2006.
| image = WilliamMonahan at LowesBostonCommon cropped higherquality.jpg
| birthdate = {{birth date and age|1960|11|3}}
| imagesize = 130px
| birthplace = ], ]
| caption = October 2006
| deathdate =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|11|3}}
| deathplace =
| birth_place = ], Massachusetts, U.S.
| occupation = ]<br />]ist<br />]<br />]ist<br />]
| death_date =
| nationality = ]
| pseudonym = | death_place =
| occupation = {{Hlist|Screenwriter|novelist|journalist|essayist}}
| notableworks = '''Novel''' '']'' (2000)<br />'''Film''' '']'' (2005), '']'' (2006)
| salary =
| influences = ],<ref name=BostonGlobe1/> ],<ref name=BlackBook>{{cite news |title=Fiction (With a Twist of Lennon) |author=William Monahan interviews ] |date=] |publisher='']'' magazine |url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/features/comments/fiction-with-a-twist-of-lennon1/ |accessdate=2007-10-20}}</ref> ],<ref name=WrittenBy>{{cite news |title=Profane Eloquence: Through the words of William Monahan, Boston swagger meets Hong Kong crime drama |author=John Koch |year=2007 |month=February/March |work=Written By |publisher=The Writers Guild of America, West |url=http://www.wga.org/writtenby/writtenbysub.aspx?id=2312 |accessdate=2007-03-07}}</ref>/> ],<ref name=USAToday_facts/> ]<ref name=USAToday_facts/>
| influenced = | networth =
| networth = | spouse =
| spouse = | children =
| alma_mater = ]
| children =
| website = | footnotes =
| awards = ] (2007)<br>] (2007)
}} }}
'''William Monahan''' ({{pronEng|ˈwɪljəm ˈmɒnəhæn}})<ref>{{cite web | url = http://inogolo.com/pronunciation/d801/William_Monahan | title = Pronunciation of William Monahan | accessdate = 2007-05-03 | publisher = inogolo.com}}</ref> (born November 3, 1960) is an ]-winning ] ], ]ist, and former journalist. After attending the ], where he studied ] and ], Monahan, already a professional writer while an undergraduate, as well as a musician in ], moved to New York City to pursue a career as a ], ] and ]. He wrote many satirical pieces for the '']'', a few reviews for '']'', and contributed to the magazines '']'', '']'', and '']''. He was also an ] at '']'' magazine. He won a 1997 ] when the Amherst ] '']'' nominated one of his ]. After ''Spy'' failed, he concentrated on writing films and published '']'', a novel that was critically praised and led to Monahan's move into film when in 1998, ] bought the film rights to the novel and commissioned Monahan to adapt it to the screen for director ].


In 2001, ] bought Monahan's ] about the ] called ''Tripoli'', with ], who was to become Monahan's primary collaborator, attached to direct. Monahan has since worked with ] and ], among other filmmakers. His first produced screenplay, '']'' was made into a film by Ridley Scott and released to theaters in 2005. His second produced screenplay was '']'', a film that earned him a ] and an ] for ]. The second film that Monahan completed with Ridley Scott was '']'', which was released in the United States on October 10, 2008. '''William J. Monahan''' (born November 3, 1960) is an<!--awards and nominations don't belong here--> American ] and ]. His second produced screenplay was '']'', a film that earned him a ] and ].


==Writer and editor==
Monahan has a company called Henceforth.<ref name=Henceforth/><ref name=BostonGlobe1/> He has a wife and two children.<ref name=BostonGlobe1/>
Monahan was born in ]. He attended the ], where he studied ] and ].<ref name="WrittenBy">{{cite web|title=Profane Eloquence: Through the words of William Monahan, Boston swagger meets Hong Kong crime drama |author=John Koch |date=February–March 2007 |publisher=Written By Magazine |work=The Writers Guild of America, West |url=http://www.wga.org/writtenby/writtenbysub.aspx?id=2312 |access-date=March 7, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015725/http://www.wga.org/writtenby/writtenbysub.aspx?id=2312 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref> He moved to ] and contributed to the ] newspaper '']'' and the magazines ], ], and ].<ref name="BostonGlobe1" /><ref name="WGAw">{{cite web|title=A Man of Letters |author=Dylan Callaghan |date=October 13, 2006 |url=http://www.wga.org/subpage.aspx?id=2240 |publisher=Writers Guild of America, West |access-date=January 1, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015712/http://www.wga.org/subpage.aspx?id=2240 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref> In 1997 Monahan won a ] for his short story "A Relation of Various Accidents Observable in Some Animals Included in Vacuo".<ref name="Pushcart">{{cite book |title=The Pushcart Prize XXI: Best of the Small Presses (1997) |editor=Bill Henderson |author=William Monahan |publisher=Pushcart Press |date=July 1997 |chapter=A Relation of Various Accidents Observable in Some Animals Included in Vacuo |isbn=978-1-888889-00-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/pushcartprizexxi00bill }}</ref> Monahan was an editor at ] during the magazine's final years, where he would come in at the close of the monthly issue to rewrite articles and improve jokes.<ref name="BostonGlobe1">{{cite news|title= Standing at the corner of Shakespeare and Scorsese |author=Sam Allis| date=October 3, 2006 |publisher=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/10/03/standing_at_the_corner_of_shakespeare_and_scorsese/ | access-date=January 1, 2007 }}</ref>


In 1999 ] debuted, and Monahan contributed a travelogue on ], to the first issue.<ref>{{cite news |title=MUGGER: I'm in Bermuda and Rick Lazio Isn't |author=Russ Smith |date=August 11, 1999 |publisher=Jewish World Review |url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/mugger081199.asp |access-date=March 8, 2007}}</ref> In 2000 Monahan's first novel, ''Light House: A Trifle'', was finally published, and it garnered critical acclaim; ''The New York Times'' proclaimed, "Monahan's cocksure prose gallops along" and ''BookPage Fiction'' called Monahan "a worthy successor to ]."<ref name="Wilde">{{cite press release|title=Van Morrison, Terry George and Bill Monahan honored in LA |date=February 26, 2007 |publisher=US-Ireland Alliance |url=http://www.us-irelandalliance.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=622 |access-date=March 5, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070726170439/http://www.us-irelandalliance.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=622 |archive-date=July 26, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=An Offshore Farce |author=William Georgiades |date=July 23, 2000 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/23/bib/000723.rv090232.html |access-date=March 10, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Review: Light House |author=Bruce Tierney |year=2000 |publisher=BookPage Fiction |url=http://www.bookpage.com/0006bp/fiction/light_house.html |access-date=March 15, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061202142714/http://www.bookpage.com/0006bp/fiction/light_house.html |archive-date=December 2, 2006 }}</ref> In the second half of 2001 Monahan wrote a fictional column at the ''New York Press'' under the pseudonym of Claude La Badarian, which ran for 13 weeks.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Last Supper: Being eventually a PROPOSAL for a column called DINING LATE WITH CLAUDE LA BADARIAN |author=William Monahan |date=June 21, 2001 |publisher=New York Press |url=http://www.nypress.com/14/25/news&columns/culture.cfm |access-date=March 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020122957/http://www.nypress.com/14/25/news%26columns/culture.cfm |archive-date=October 20, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=That Asshole, Monahan by Claude La Badarian |author=William Monahan |date=August 15, 2001 |publisher=New York Press |url=http://www.nypress.com/14/33/news&columns/claude.cfm |access-date=March 9, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014183126/http://www.nypress.com/14/33/news%26columns/claude.cfm |archive-date=October 14, 2007 }}</ref>
==Early years==
Monahan was born in ], and spent his early years in the neighborhood of ].<ref name=BostonGlobe1/> Monahan had a strongly literary home environment and developed an early interest in Elizabethan drama. He recalls developing a keen interest in movies at age seven, when it occurred to him that a screenwriter was behind the story in '']''.<ref name=USAToday_facts>{{cite news |title=William Monahan: His 'Departed' left Hong Kong for the USA |author=Susan Wloszczyna |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/movieawards/oscars/2007-02-15-screenwriters-monahan_x.htm |accessdate=2007-02-25}}</ref> He wrote his first screenplay at age twelve.<ref name=WGAw>{{cite news |title=A Man of Letters |author=Dylan Callaghan |date=] |url=http://www.wga.org/subpage.aspx?id=2240 |publisher=Writers Guild of America, West |accessdate=2007-01-01}}</ref>


==Screenwriting career==
Monahan attended the ], and seems to have lived in Northampton, Massachusetts after leaving the university. In the late 1980s Monahan played guitar in the Slags, a band that performed in and around Northampton.<ref>{{cite journal | author= William Georgiades |title=Contributors Notes | journal =Perkins Press | volume =2 | issue =4 | year =1991 }}"William Monohan 'writes fiction and plays guitar for the Slags.'</ref> In the early 1990s he wrote songs and played with a band called Foam.{{Fact|date=February 2009}}
] ] the ] to the novel ''Light House: A Trifle''.<ref name="Frosty" /><ref name="Verbinski">{{cite news |title='Mars' loses Verbinski: Studio, director cannot agree |author=Chris Petrikin, Dan Cox |date=January 12, 1999 |publisher=Variety |access-date=January 7, 2007 |url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/mars-loses-verbinski-1117490115/}}</ref> The screenplay adaptation has not been produced. ''Light House'' was released in 2000. A few years later, he bought back the rights and took the novel off the market.<ref name="Frosty">{{cite news |title=William Monahan – Exclusive Interview|author=Frosty |date=February 18, 2007 |publisher=Collider.com |url=https://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp?aid=3700&tcid=1 |access-date=February 20, 2007}}</ref><ref name="USAToday_facts">{{cite news |title=William Monahan: His 'Departed' left Hong Kong for the USA |author=Susan Wloszczyna |date=February 15, 2007 |publisher=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/movieawards/oscars/2007-02-15-screenwriters-monahan_x.htm |access-date=February 25, 2007}}</ref>


In 2001 ] bought Monahan's ] ''Tripoli'', about ] epic march on Tripoli during the ], in a deal worth mid-six figures in American dollars, with Mark Gordon attached as producer.<ref name="Tripoli">{{cite news| title=Monahan 'Tripoli' spec lands on Gordon's shore |date=November 27, 2001| author=Cathy Dunkley, Jonathan Bing |publisher=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2001/film/news/monahan-tripoli-spec-lands-on-gordon-s-shore-1117856400/ |access-date=January 5, 2007}}</ref> The script was given to ] to direct. Monahan met with Scott to discuss ''Tripoli'', and Scott mentioned his desire to direct a film about knights. Monahan suggested the ] as a setting, reasoning that "you've got every conceivable plot imaginable there, which is far more exotic than fiction". Scott was captivated by Monahan's pitch and hired him to write the screenplay for '']''. ''Tripoli'' was eventually shelved, but Monahan retained ownership of the screenplay and therefore the right to consider new offers at a later date.<ref>{{cite news|title=Interview: Ridley Scott "Kingdom of Heaven" |date=May 4, 2005 |author=Garth Franklin |publisher=Dark Horizons |url=http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/kingdom2.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050505120239/http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/kingdom2.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 5, 2005 |access-date=January 5, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Monahan Talks Tripoli: Will the Ridley Scott epic be resurrected? |author=Stax |publisher=IGN |date=February 20, 2007 |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/765/765808p1.html |access-date=February 20, 2007}}</ref>
===Writer and Editor===


Monahan steadily secured work in the film industry throughout the 2000s. ]'s production company, Plan B, hired Monahan to write an adaptation of Hong Kong director ]'s gangster film '']''. Monahan respun ''Infernal Affairs'' as a battle between Irish American gangsters and cops in Boston's Southie district, and ] directed the completed screenplay under the title '']'' for Warner Bros.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scorsese takes on Hong Kong gangs: Pitt considering role in popular 'Infernal' redo |author=Claude Brodesser, Cathy Dunkley |date=February 12, 2004 |publisher=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2004/film/markets-festivals/scorsese-takes-on-hong-kong-gangs-1117900068/ |access-date=January 6, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Brad Pitt's role as filmmaker threatens to eclipse his actorly exploits and tabloid profile |author=Dade Hayes |date=December 14, 2006 |publisher=Variety |url=https://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117955806.html |access-date=March 3, 2007 }}</ref> Monahan's work on the film would later earn him two Best Adapted Screenplay awards, from the Writers Guild of America and the Academy Awards.
His earliest known published piece, a short story titled "At the Village Hall", appeared in 1991 in the ]'s ''Perkins Press''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Adventures in Journalism: Petty Games |author=William Georgiades |date=2004-11-17 |publisher=] |url=http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a3200.asp |accessdate=2008-07-15 |quote=It was the free weekly newspaper that was independent and angry enough to say whatever it wanted, and the paper that had made minor stars (cloudy satellites, really) of two writers I'd first published back in Massachusetts.}}</ref> Two years later, a novella that was later expanded into the novel ''Light House: A Trifle'' appeared serially in the ] ] ''Old Crow Review'' over five installments.


===Working scripts through production and after===
In the Nineties, Monahan became a journalist and editor in New York City, contributing essays and short fiction to the ] '']'', where editorial control was unusually permissive compared with most papers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jim Knipfel: A Swell Looking Babe |author=Brian Berger |date=2007-12-12 |publisher=WhoWalkInBrooklyn.com |url=http://www.whowalkinbrooklyn.com/?p=512 |quote=… it was inspiring to see such a diverse, ''weird'' group of writers successfully published. |accessdate=2008-08-15 }}</ref> At first, the letters from readers reacting to Monahan's satire were favorable, however, in 1995, he regularly courted controversy and reactions from readers became highly polarized: their discourse is best exemplified in the letters responding to the essays "The Angel Factory", "Heroin", and "Dr. Rosenthal, I Presume".<ref name=DawnEden/><ref name=JonFine/> He wrote a cover story titled "Ceci n'est pas une bombe", in which he theorized that the ] was communicating through a hidden code involving Old English.<ref name=Unabomber>{{cite book |title=Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist |author=Alston Chase |year=2003 |month=March |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |pages=43–44 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=av5iRXPoXZYC&printsec=frontcover#PPA43,M1#PPA44 }}</ref> In another essay, Monahan wrote that ''Press'' writers weren't reporters in the traditional sense. "We're all sort of essayists, actually."<ref>William Monahan. "Manhattan Samurai: Swords and Sensibilities", ''New York Press'', vol. 8, no. 48 (November 29–December 5, 1995).</ref> Former ''New York Press'' colleague ] recalled him "as charming, libertarian-leaning, with a razor-sharp wit that he used in print to anger as many people as possible" and '']''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Jon Fine called him "an excellent and scabrous writer".<ref name=DawnEden>{{cite news |title=Crusades-Film Writer's Personal Jihad |author=] |date=] |work=The Dawn Patrol |url=http://www.dawneden.com/2005/05/crusades-film-writers-personal-jihad.html |accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref><ref name=JonFine>{{cite news |title=Oscar-Winner William Monahan's (Poorly Documented) Past Life |author=Jon Fine |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/FineOnMedia/archives/2007/02/oscar-winner_wi.html |accessdate=2007-03-06}}</ref> Monahan wrote literary pieces on literary subjects.
{{Main|Kingdom of Heaven (film)|The Departed }}
''Kingdom of Heaven'' was the first of Monahan's screenplays to be produced into a film. Monahan had negotiated a ] for ''Kingdom of Heaven'', which allowed him to be present on the movie sets to make modifications to the ] during production.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} It was poorly received by critics when it was released in theaters in 2005. ''Kingdom'' was critically reappraised when it was released on DVD in the form of a ] that contained an additional 45 minutes of footage previously shot from Monahan's shooting script.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} Some critics were pleased with the extended version of the film.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut:A Film Review |author=James Berardinelli |year=2006 |publisher=ReelViews.net |url=http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/k/kingdom_heaven_directors.html |access-date=March 4, 2007}}</ref>


Monahan's second produced screenplay was ''The Departed'', an adaptation of the ] '']''. ], one of the leads in the film, influenced the screenplay. "I had written the role as a post-sexual 68-year-old Irishman. Jack is post-sexual exactly never," Monahan said later. "What Jack did is great. Did he change the words? Not any of the good ones."<ref name="USAToday_facts" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Oscar winners weigh in on victory: Backstage notes at the Academy Awards |author=David S. Cohen, Justin Chang |date=February 25, 2007 |publisher=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2007/film/awards/oscar-winners-weigh-in-on-victory-1117960130/ |access-date=March 2, 2007}}</ref> Monahan received considerable praise from critics when the film was released in theaters, in 2006, and was applauded for accurately depicting the city of Boston. Monahan used his intimate knowledge of the way Bostonians talk and act, learned from his youth spent in the many ], to create characters that ''The Boston Globe'' described as distinctly indigenous to the city.<ref name="BostonianOfTheYear">{{cite news |title=The Storyteller |author=Sam Allis| date=December 31, 2006 |publisher=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/12/31/the_storyteller/ |access-date=January 2, 2007}}</ref>
Apart from freelance work for the ''New York Press'', Monahan worked as a book reviewer for '']'' and wrote for men's magazine ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Required Reading |author=William Georgiades |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/02252007/entertainment/required_reading_entertainment_william_georgiades.htm |accessdate=2007-03-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Felix Dennis&nbsp;— owner of Dennis Publishing forwards Maxim magazine |author=Tony Silber |date=] |publisher=''Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management'' reprinted by FindArticles.com |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3065/is_5_28/ai_54471794 |accessdate=2007-11-10}}</ref>


By the end of 2006 ''The Departed'' had won many critics' prizes. Monahan was honored by ] with the award for best screenplay, by the ] for best adapted screenplay, and by the Southeastern Film Critics Association with another best adapted screenplay award.<ref>{{cite news |title= 'The Departed' tops Boston film critics' awards |author=Wesley Morris |date=December 11, 2006 |publisher=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/12/11/the_departed_tops_boston_film_critics_awards/ |access-date=January 6, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='Departed' tops Chicago critics' list |date=December 29, 2006 |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |url=http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/190265,CST-FTR-critics29.article |access-date=January 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527184302/http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/190265%2CCST-FTR-critics29.article |archive-date=May 27, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Oscar 2006: Southeastern Film Critics Select The Departed |date=December 19, 2006 |url=http://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=4000 |publisher=Hollywood News |access-date=January 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927184516/http://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=4000 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Monahan took an unusual route for a screenwriter and hired a ] to run a campaign promoting his screenplay during awards season.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fernandez |first=Jay A. |date=2007-02-21 |title=Publicists get ink for screenwriters |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-feb-21-et-scriptland21-story.html |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Monahan ended up winning two Best Adapted Screenplay awards for ''The Departed'', from the ] and the ].<ref>{{cite news |title='Departed' shines at WGA kudos: 'Miss' a hit with scribes |author=Dave McNary |date=February 11, 2007 |publisher=Variety |url=https://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117959264.html |access-date=February 21, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Scorsese cuffs Oscar: 'Departed' named best pic |author=Gregg Kilday |date=February 26, 2007 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003550152 |access-date=March 2, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930225216/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003550152 |archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref> He received an award for his writing in film at the US-Ireland Alliance's second annual "Oscar Wilde: Honoring Irish Writing in Film" ceremony.<ref name="Wilde" />
After writing a weekly column for the seasonal '']'', a publication that covers ] summer colony, Monahan was named an editor of the magazine for the summer of 1996 but he quit after 3 issues, writing that the environment there was "ridiculously unworkable."<ref name=Burningdeck>William Monahan. "The Burning Deck: My Brilliant Career at ''Hamptons''", ''New York Press'', vol. 9, no. 29 (July 17-23, 1996). "A few weeks after flattening ''Manhattan File'' on behalf of western civilization, I got a call from an associate editor at ''Hamptons'', who said that a person or concept named 'Randy' wanted to reprint the article for any reasonable figure I might like to name. The reason? I had whacked his treasonous former employees. This struck me as disgusting and sleazoid, so I said no; but I did accept an offer to write for the magazine for the summer season of 1995— 500 words a week on anything I liked, at better than the usual rate, cash on the barrelhead."</ref> In 1997, Monahan was hired to work as an editor at ] magazine, a satirical monthly, by the editor-in-chief ]. He later reminisced, in an interview with '']'', that he "had God's own job there". In 1998, ''Spy'' magazine was shut down; he had worked on the last four issues as a rewrite man and editor.<ref name=BostonGlobe1>{{cite news|title= Standing at the corner of Shakespeare and Scorsese |author=Sam Allis| date=] |work=] |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/10/03/standing_at_the_corner_of_shakespeare_and_scorcese/ | accessdate=2007-01-01 }}</ref> Shortly after the collapse of ''Spy'', Monahan's 1993 novella was expanded into the novel "Light House: A Trifle" and in 1998 <ref name=LATimes>{{cite news |title=His success story? An epic: 'Kingdom of Heaven' is William Monahan's first produced script, but Ridley Scott, for one, expects more |author=Juan Morales |date=] |publisher='']'' through ''''}}</ref>was sold to Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Putnam.


===Producing and directing===
Monahan had already won recognition for his short fiction, having been awarded a 1997 ] for his short story, "A Relation of Various Accidents Observable in Some Animals Included in Vacuo", following a nomination by '']'';<ref name=Pushcart>{{cite book |title=The Pushcart Prize XXI: Best of the Small Presses (1997) |editor=Bill Henderson |publisher=] |year=1996 |month=December |chapter=Contributors' notes |isbn=978-1888889000 |quote=WILLIAM MONAHAN has edited a magazine on Long Island, lived in New York City, and is now on the road.}}</ref> and, in the following year's ''Pushcart'' volume, his ''Perkins Press'' short story "At the Village Hall", another nomination by ''Old Crow Review'', garnered a special mention.<ref>{{ cite book |title=''The Pushcart Prize XXII: Best of the Small Presses''|editor=Bill Henderson |publisher=] |year=1997 |month=December |chapter=Special Mention |isbn=978-1888889017 |url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=BMhZAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 |page=609 }}</ref><ref name=EchoNYC>{{cite news |title=TV critics play the blues |author=Aaron Barnhart |date=2008-07-08 |work=] |url=http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008/07/tv-critics-play.html|accessdate=2008-07-09}}</ref> An early and avid user of the internet, Monahan frequently participated in discussions at ], a distinctly New York online community.<ref name=EchoNYC/><ref>{{cite news |title=Night of the Big O (live) |author=] |date=2007-02-25 |work=] |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/wolcott/2007/02/the_most_dispir.html}}</ref><ref>William Monahan. "", ''New York Press'', vol. 14, no. 21 (May 21, 2001).</ref>
{{Update|inaccurate=yes|date=October 2012}}
In 2006 Monahan negotiated a ] with Warner Bros., which gave the studio a ] on any films produced by Henceforth, the production company he started. In return Henceforth received the film rights to produce ] ] book ''The Gamblers'', a property which Warner Bros. had previously acquired.<ref name="Henceforth">{{cite news |title='Departed' scribe digs WB: Studio inks overall deal with Monahan |author=Michael Fleming |date=October 5, 2006 |url=https://variety.com/2006/film/features/departed-scribe-digs-wb-1117951278/ |publisher=Variety |access-date=January 5, 2007}}</ref>


In 2007 Monahan was hired to work on two film projects: an adaptation of the Hong Kong film '']'' and an original ] film, ''The Long Play''. Monahan was initially assigned to ] and write the adaptation for ''Confession of Pain'', under production by ]'s company, Appian Way, for Warner Bros. Pictures.<ref name="AppianWay">{{cite news|title=Monahan, DiCaprio reconnect |author=Borys Kit |date=February 27, 2007 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003550909 |access-date=March 2, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930225204/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003550909 |archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref> It would represent his second adaption of an ] and ] film. Monahan's other assignment was to rewrite a screenplay about the history of the rock music business called ''The Long Play'', the brainchild of ], lead singer of ], which had been incubating at Jagger's production company, Jagged Films at ]. Martin Scorsese became involved while the film project was at Disney and subsequently negotiated a ] to bring ''The Long Play'' to Paramount.<ref name="TheLongPlay">{{cite news |author=Michael Fleming, Pamela McClintock |date=February 26, 2007 |title=Scorsese, Monahan ready to 'Play': 'Departed' duo rock on at Paramount |publisher=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/scorsese-monahan-ready-to-play-2-1117960184/ |access-date=March 2, 2007}}</ref> However, neither of these projects were completed.{{Needs verification|date=June 2022}}
''Light House: A Trifle'' was published in 2000 to critical acclaim.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Van Morrison, Terry George and Bill Monahan honored in LA |date=] |publisher=US-Ireland Alliance |url=http://www.us-irelandalliance.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=622 |accessdate=2007-03-05}}</ref><ref name=LATimes/> William Georgiades, in a review for ''The New York Times'', called the novel "a sort of old English farce that allows Monahan to skewer whatever comes to mind: modern art, magazine writing, education, the young";<ref>{{cite news |title=An Offshore Farce |author=William Georgiades |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/23/bib/000723.rv090232.html |accessdate=2007-03-10}}</ref> while ''BookPage Fiction''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> Bruce Tierney declared Monahan "a worthy successor to ]".<ref>{{cite web |title=Review: Light House |author=Bruce Tierney |year=2000 |work=BookPage Fiction |url=http://www.bookpage.com/0006bp/fiction/light_house.html |accessdate=2007-03-15}}</ref> However, Claire Dederer, in an editorial review for ], cautioned that " is not a novel for the culturally illiterate", and criticized the occasional inside-jokes that " most sensible people very tired".<ref>{{cite web |title=Amazon.com Editorial Review of ''Light House'' |author=Claire Dederer |url=http://www.amazon.com/Light-House-William-Monahan/dp/157322877X |accessdate=2007-10-01}}</ref> The work intentionally references the satirical novels of the early 19th century British author ] and tells the story of an artist named Tim Picasso who runs afoul of a drug lord, seeking refuge at a New England inn in the middle of a ].<ref name=LATimes/>


Monahan's directorial debut was '']'', released in 2010, which he also produced. An adaption of a ] work by the same name, it was received with both criticism and praise, with '']'' stating that as director he "sashays winningly" into the premise of Bruen's "stylish line in mean-streets poetry", further commenting the film as "adapted sharply".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bennett |first=Ray |date=2010-11-26 |title=London Boulevard: Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/london-boulevard-film-review-49422/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> Others adjudged the film as unfocused, complaining of "a surplus of plot threads that don't have space to play out, and accordingly com across as clichés",<ref>{{cite web |author=Alison Willmore |date=10 November 2011 |title=London Boulevar d |url=https://www.avclub.com/review/london-boulevard-64924 |access-date=6 February 2016 |work=]}}</ref> that he "ended up with more than he can chew for his first time in the director's chair".<ref>{{cite news |author=Betsy Sharkey |date=11 November 2011 |title='London Boulevard': Crime, fame, Colin Farrell not a good mix |newspaper=LA Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-london-boulevard-20111111-story.html |accessdate=6 February 2016}}</ref>
Although now a novelist and WGA screenwriter Monahan continued to work as a journalist, contributing to the ''New York Press'', as well as '']'' magazine's debut issue in August 1999.<ref>William Monahan. "So Seedy! Smell that fish bait! Gloucester's a perfect town for pictures", '']'' magazine, September 1999, Premiere issue, p. 82.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=MUGGER: I’m in Bermuda and Rick Lazio Isn’t |author=] |date=] |work=New York Press |url=http://nypress.com/12/32/news&columns/mugger.cfm |accessdate=2007-03-08}}</ref> Monahan's last act at the NYPress and as a periodical writer was a comic ] titled '']'', published over thirteen weeks under the pseudonym Claude La Badarian, a fictional restaurant critic. These short stories made satirical reference to his first novel and literary career.<ref name=ClaudeLaBadarian>{{cite news |title=The Last Supper: Being eventually a PROPOSAL for a column called ''DINING LATE WITH CLAUDE LA BADARIAN, By Claude La Badarian'' |author=William Monahan |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.nypress.com/14/25/news&columns/culture.cfm |accessdate=2007-03-06}}</ref> At the conclusion of the serial, Monahan and Bruno Maddox went on a joint book tour that was interrupted by the 9/11 attacks. Shortly afterward he sold his ] ''Tripoli'' to 20th Century Fox, and was commissioned to write ''Kingdom of Heaven'' by Ridley Scott.<ref name=911-interrupted>{{cite news|title=Interview: Ridley Scott "''''Kingdom of Heaven''''" |date=] |author=Garth Franklin |work=Dark Horizons |url=http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/kingdom2.php |accessdate=2007-01-05}}</ref>Monahan continued editing for ''Details'' magazine and reviewing books for ''Bookforum'', but had committed to film writing.


A few years later, a version of '']'' was finally generated, as written and executive produced. The film received mixed reviews, with some people complementing ]'s performance,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jacobs |first1=Matthew |last2=Rosen |first2=Christopher |date=December 9, 2014 |title=One Of These 21 Women Will Probably Win Best Supporting Actress At The 2015 Oscars |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/09/best-supporting-actress-2015-oscars_n_6291256.html |access-date=January 10, 2015 |website=The Huffington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Schaefer |first=Stephen |date=November 20, 2014 |title=Who supports Best? |newspaper=Boston Herald |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/movies/hollywood_mine/2014/11/who_supports_best |access-date=January 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Guzman |first=Rafer |date=December 23, 2014 |title='The Gambler' review: Low on action and tension |newspaper=Newsday |url=http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/the-gambler-review-low-on-action-and-tension-1.9740320 |access-date=January 10, 2015 |quote=a terrific Jessica Lange}}</ref> while others, including ] from ], calling the film's unclear character motivations "wearying".<ref name="Travers">{{cite magazine |last=Travers |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Travers |date=30 December 2014 |title='The Gambler' Movie Review |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-gambler-255575/ |magazine=]}}</ref> This remake also suffered from comparison and contrasting with the original film on which it's based.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Gambler (2014) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_gambler_2015 |access-date=January 3, 2021 |work=] |publisher=]}}</ref>
==Screenwriting ==
{{quote box|width=40%|quote="I wanted to be an old-fashioned ], so I essentially prepared myself very carefully through my 20s for a job that doesn't exist anymore; you may be able to find a man of letters in Syria or the Horn of Africa, but you could work Manhattan or London with dogs for a year and never find one. ] is dead, ] is the last lion, and at any rate ] aren't where they were left. Anyway, I'm making movies now. Just before all this happened, I thought, ] What I picked was to be the screenwriter."|source=William Monahan<ref name=LATimes/>}}


His most recent directorial and producer credit was the film '']'', which he also wrote''.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Renner |first=Brian D. |title=Everything You Need to Know About Mojave Movie (2016): Feb. 13, 2016 - added the US DVD release date of April 5, 2016 |url=https://www.movieinsider.com/m10032/mojave |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Movie Insider |language=en}}</ref> Announced on March 22, 2012,<ref name="Monahan">{{cite news |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=March 22, 2012 |title=Atlas Independent Steps Up For William Monahan Thriller 'Mojave' |website=] |url=https://deadline.com/2012/03/atlas-independent-steps-up-for-william-monahan-thriller-mojave-247314/ |access-date=March 28, 2014}}</ref> and cast between December 4 until well past principal photography began,<ref name="Oscar2">{{cite news |last=Kit |first=Borys |date=December 4, 2012 |title=Oscar Isaac and Jason Clarke to Star in William Monahan Thriller 'Mojave' |work=] |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/oscar-isaac-jason-clarke-star-397950 |accessdate=March 28, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Garrett">{{cite news |last=Sneider |first=Jeff |date=May 16, 2013 |title='Tron: Legacy' Star Garrett Hedlund to Join Oscar Isaac in William Monahan's 'Mojave' Movie |work=] |url=https://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/tron-legacy-star-garrett-hedlund-join-oscar-isaac-william-monahans-mojave-movie-92051 |accessdate=March 28, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Louise">{{cite news |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=July 18, 2013 |title=Louise Bourgoin Joins Oscar Isaac And Garrett Hedlund In 'Mojave' |website=Deadline Hollywood |url=https://www.deadline.com/2013/07/louise-bourgoin-joins-oscar-issac-and-garrett-hedlund-in-mojave/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721135309/http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/louise-bourgoin-joins-oscar-issac-and-garrett-hedlund-in-mojave/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 21, 2013 |accessdate=March 28, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Walton2">{{cite news |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=September 27, 2013 |title='Justified's Walton Goggins Joins William Monahan Pic 'Mojave' |website=Deadline Hollywood |url=https://deadline.com/2013/09/walton-goggins-mojave-movie-william-monahan-598274/ |access-date=March 28, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Fran">{{cite news |date=October 2, 2013 |title=Fran Kranz Joins 'Mojave' |website=Deadline Hollywood |url=https://deadline.com/2013/10/dorian-missick-annie-morgan-freeman-lemurs-fran-kranz-mojave-600467/ |access-date=March 28, 2014}}</ref> production was stalled until September 27, 2013.<ref name="Oscar2"/><ref name="Walton2"/><ref name="first-look">{{cite news |last=White |first=James |date=November 7, 2013 |title=Exclusive New Images From William Monahan's Mojave |newspaper=empireonline.com |url=https://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=39285 |accessdate=March 27, 2014}}</ref> The film was released on DirecTV Cinema on December 3, 2015, prior to opening in a ] on January 22, 2016.<ref name="Pearce">{{cite web |last=Pearce |first=Leonard |date=December 2, 2015 |title=Oscar Isaac Hunts Down Garrett Hedlund in First Trailer For 'Mojave' |url=http://thefilmstage.com/trailer/oscar-isaac-hunts-down-garrett-hedlund-in-first-trailer-for-mojave/ |publisher=TheFilmStage |accessdate=December 2, 2015}}</ref> The ] consensus for the movie is that it "has no shortage of talent on either side of the camera; unfortunately, it amounts to little more than a frustrating missed opportunity."<ref>{{cite web |title=Mojave (2016) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mojave_2016/ |work=] |publisher=] |accessdate=February 2, 2016}}</ref> Sean Burns ripped into the movie, calling it "elliptical and at times preposterously entertaining, that both sends up and embraces every chest-beating trope in that old alpha 'He-Man of letters' tradition", and dances with the idea that some of the movie "is Monahan indulging in a bit of sardonic self-flaggelation for all his success in the industry".<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Monahan Revives The Pseudo-Intellectual Alpha Males No One Wanted Back In 'Mojave' |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2016/01/28/william-monahan-mojave |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=www.wbur.org |date=January 28, 2016 |language=en}}</ref> The '']''<nowiki/>'s Rex Reed labeled it "gibberish with guns and phony literary pretentiousness about two thugs in a duel of weapons and words that goes nowhere fast", contending that his high-quality work on ''The Departed'' was inexplicable, as he had "written nothing of value since". Continuing, he said that "as a director he evokes gales of guffaws".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-01-20 |title='Mojave' Is the Worst Movie of the Still-Young New Year |url=https://observer.com/2016/01/mojave-is-the-worst-movie-of-the-still-young-new-year/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Observer |language=en-US}}</ref>
Monahan had become a working screenwriter at the age of 36 when ] ] the film rights to his novel ''Light House: A Trifle''—at that point still in manuscript—and contracted him to write the adaptation.<ref name=Frosty>{{cite news |title=William Monahan&nbsp;– Exclusive Interview |date=] |publisher=Collider.com |url=http://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp?aid=3700&tcid=1 |accessdate=2007-02-20}}</ref> ] was slated to direct.<ref name=Verbinski>{{cite news |title='Mars' loses Verbinski: Studio, director cannot agree |author=Chris Petrikin, Dan Cox |date=] |work=] |accessdate=2007-01-07 |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117490115.html}}</ref> His breakthrough, however, came with the sale of a script he had written in his twenties, ''Tripoli'', about ] epic march on Tripoli during the ]. While working at ''Spy'' magazine, Monahan routinely spent two weeks working in Manhattan followed by two weeks writing his own material in Massachusetts; during this period he took the ''Tripoli'' script out of a drawer and placed it with an agent.<ref name=LATimes/> In 2001, ''Tripoli'' sold to ], in a deal worth mid-six figures in American dollars with Mark Gordon attached as the producer.<ref name=Tripoli>{{cite news| title=Monahan 'Tripoli' spec lands on Gordon's shore |date=]| author=Cathy Dunkley, Jonathan Bing |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117856400.html |accessdate=2007-01-05}}</ref> The historical epic follows Eaton's campaign against ] to restore Yusuf's brother, the exiled heir Hamet Karamanli, to the throne of the Barbary Coast nation of Tripoli, and features a French mercenary named Joubert.<ref>{{cite news |author=Stax |work=IGN |date=] |title=The Stax Report: Script Review of Tripoli |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/432/432011p1.html |accessdate=2007-06-30}}</ref> ] signed to direct. Monahan met with Scott to discuss ''Tripoli'' and Scott mentioned his desire to direct a film about knights. Monahan suggested the fall of the ] as a setting, and Ridley Scott and Fox commissioned Monahan to write the original screenplay that became ''Kingdom of Heaven''.<ref name=911-interrupted/>


==Works==
Before the start of production on ''Kingdom of Heaven'' in January 2004, Monahan was hired to write several scripts for big-budget films, beginning with '']'' which he was hired to write for ] as reported in 2002.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lizards leap again for U: 'Tripoli' scribe returning to 'Park' pen |author=Dana Harris |date=] |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117875636.html |work=Variety |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref> ] then hired him to write a script based on a manuscript by journalist ], later published as ''The Horse Soldiers: A True Story of Modern War'', which recounted the bloody uprising in the Afghan city ] following the American incursion against the Taliban. Subsequently, ]'s production company Plan B hired him to adapt the ] '']'', which ] directed under the title '']'' for Warner Bros.; the film won Monahan two Best Adapted Screenplay awards, from the Writers Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.<ref>{{cite news| title=Monahan eyes war script for Col: Busy writer has two tales for Scott, a 'Jurassic' sequel |author=Claude Brodesser |date=] |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117882350.html |work=Variety |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Scorsese takes on Hong Kong gangs: Pitt considering role in popular 'Infernal' redo |author=Claude Brodesser, Cathy Dunkley |date=] |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117900068.html |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Brad Pitt's role as filmmaker threatens to eclipse his actorly exploits and tabloid profile |author=Dade Hayes |date=] |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117955806.html |accessdate=2007-03-03 }}</ref> ] was later hired to write a subsequent draft for ''Jurassic Park IV'' when Monahan became indisposed: he had entered into a ] for ''Kingdom of Heaven'', requiring him to be on location to potentially modify its ].<ref name=PWTC>{{cite news |title=William Monahan Talks The Departed |author=Sasha Stone |date=] |publisher=OscarWatch.com |url=http://www.oscarwatch.com/2007/02/william_monahan_talks_the_depa.html |accessdate=2007-02-26 }}</ref><ref name=BostonGlobe1/><ref name=USAToday_facts/><ref>{{cite news|title=Rewriting Jurassic Park IV: Silver City scribe tackles new dinosaur tale |author=Paul Davidson |date=] |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/549/549150p1.html |work=IGN |accessdate=2007-01-06 }}</ref>
'''Novel'''
* '']'' (2000)


'''Film'''
===''Kingdom of Heaven'' released to theaters===
{|class="wikitable"
{{quote box|width=40%|quote="The crucial skill of a working screenwriter is that you have to have some depth of ability and ]. Your ninth idea has to be as good or better than your first, and that's where a lot of people crack up. You have to remain on top of your game and in absolute control of the text and a successful advocate of your own intentions no matter what influences hit the picture or from which direction. You do that by having the best ideas in the room. If you don't, you will be replaced. It's nothing personal."|source=William Monahan, on developing a screenplay.<ref name=WGAw/>}}
|-
! Year
! Title
!width=65| Director
!width=65| Writer
!width=65| Producer
! Notes
|-
| 2005
| '']''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|
|-
| 2006
| '']''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| ] - ] - ]<br>Nominated
|-
| 2008
| '']''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|
|-
|rowspan=2| 2010
| '']''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|
|-
| '']''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|-
| 2014
| '']''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes|Executive}}
|
|-
| 2015
| '']''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|-
| 2021
| '']''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|
|-
| 2022
| '']''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|
|}


==References==
After production on ''Kingdom of Heaven'' completed, Monahan was hired to collaborate once again with director Ridley Scott on an adaptation of ] ultra-violent Western novel '']'' for producer ].<ref name=Polo/><ref>{{cite news|title=The Vine: Monahan eyed for 'Blood' work |author=Liza Foreman | date=] |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000507203 |work=] |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref> In ] on ''Kingdom of Heaven'', Scott edited a 3-hour long cut but decided to pare it down after it was discovered at a ] that the audience felt the film was too long; Scott was gradually convinced as well and settled on a 145-minute cut.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut&nbsp;— Ridley Scott interview |author=Rob Carnevale |work=IndieLondon |url=http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/kingdom-of-heaven-the-directors-cut-ridley-scott-interview |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref>
{{Reflist|30em}}

The months leading up to ''Kingdom of Heaven''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> theatrical release were troubled when author ] claimed that Monahan's ''Kingdom of Heaven'' script ] of his 2001 novel '']''. Reston claimed that a producer had previously offered Ridley Scott the book for a movie deal but was turned down. He alleged that the entire second half of Monahan's ] was based on the first 105 pages of his book, and noted that "Kingdom of Heaven" is the title of the second chapter.<ref>{{cite news |title=Inside Move: Scribe on crusade over 'Heaven' script: Reston fires on Fox over 'Kingdom' |author=William Triplett, Claude Brodesser |date=] |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117920194.html |work=Variety |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Historical Epic Is Focus of Copyright Dispute |author=Sharon Waxman |date=2005-03-29 |work=The New York Times |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E4D7153FF93AA15750C0A9639C8B63 |accessdate=2008-11-01}}</ref> 20th Century Fox denied all of Reston's claims and Monahan, in an e-mail, commented, "There was no infringement, period. I've been familiar with the fall of the Latin Kingdom for thirty-odd years." Reston did not pursue the matter and never filed a lawsuit.<ref name=Crusade>{{cite news |title=Hollywood on Crusade: With His Historical Epic, Ridley Scott Hurtles Into Vexing, Volatile Territory |author=Bob Thompson |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042900744.html |accessdate=2007-01-08}}</ref>

In the meantime, it was reported that Monahan had secured work on two Warner Bros. projects. He was hired to adapt ]'s novel '']'' for ], previously in development as a Stanley Kubrick project called '']''.<ref>{{cite news |title= WIP a 'Wartime' recruit: Warner catches WWII 'Lies' |author=Claude Brodesser |date=] |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117922510.html |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref> A second script was to be based on ]'s autobiography '']'', as a star vehicle for actor ], titled ''The Venetian'', and set during Polo's Far East explorations.<ref name=Polo>{{cite news |title=Warner Bros. plays 'Polo': Historical epic to feature Damon as explorer |author=Michael Fleming |date=] |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117922038.html |work=Variety |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref><ref name=Henceforth/>

''Kingdom of Heaven'' was released theatrically in May 2005. Peter Canavese of ''Groucho Reviews'' described ''Kingdom'' as a "confusing compromise at best and a dull obfuscation of history at worst" and Jeffrey M. Anderson of ''Combustible Celluloid'' wrote that ''Kingdom'' "has at its center a bold story, and yet it sits there like a stone pillar".<ref>{{cite web |title=Kingdom of Heaven (2005) Review |author=Peter Canavese |work=Groucho Reviews |url=http://www.grouchoreviews.com/index.php?module=Movie_Reviews&func=display&id=2221 |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Kingdom of Heaven (2005) Review |author=Jeffrey M. Anderson |work=Combustible Celluloid |url=http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/2005/kingheav.shtml |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> Ridley Scott later remarked that he got carried away with cutting the film in the editing room and learned that "the enemy is previews" because these test screenings are tantamount to asking an inexperienced group of people to be film critics.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ridley Scott's French Invasion |author=Edward Douglas |date=] |publisher=ComingSoon.net |url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=17321 |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> ''Kingdom'' was reappraised by critics when it was released on DVD in the form of a ], containing an additional 45 minutes of footage previously shot from Monahan's shooting script. Critics were pleased with the extended version of the film and ] of ''ReelViews'' remarked how "now that the director's cut is available, there's no reason for anyone to watch the neutered theatrical edition".<ref>{{cite web |title=Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut: A Film Review |author=] |year=2006 |publisher=ReelViews.net |url=http://www.reelviews.net/movies/k/kingdom_heaven_directors.html |accessdate=2007-03-04}}</ref>

===Best Adapted Screenplay Awards for ''The Departed''===
]

While Monahan was on the set of ''The Departed'' his wife gave birth to a daughter. He was already a step-father to his wife's son. Monahan managed to get two days off to spend with them.<ref name=Oscar>{{cite news |title=William Monahan's 2007 Oscar Acceptance Speech |date=] |publisher=OSCAR.com |url=http://www.oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/?pn=detail&nominee=TheDepartedWritingAdaptedScreenplayNominee |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070302104347/http://www.oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/?pn=detail&nominee=TheDepartedWritingAdaptedScreenplayNominee |archivedate=2007-03-02 |accessdate=2007-03-05}}</ref> In the run-up to ''The Departed''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> theatrical release, Monahan was hired by ] to adapt ] novel '']'' into a ], about a ] operative who goes to ] to track a high-ranking ], with ] directing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Warner sets spy team: Scott to helm Monahan-adapted 'Penetration' |author=Michael Fleming |date=] |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117939610.html |work=Variety |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref> It was reported that Monahan had started his own company on the Warner Bros. lot called Henceforth and negotiated a ] that gave the studio the first ] on any films produced by Henceforth. In return Monahan and producer Quentin Curtis received from Warner Bros. the film rights to produce ] ] novel ''The Gamblers''; reportedly Monahan will write the adaptation.<ref name=Frosty/><ref name=Henceforth>{{cite news |title='Departed' scribe digs WB: Studio inks overall deal with Monahan |author=Michael Fleming |date=] |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117951278.html |work=Variety |accessdate=2007-01-05}}</ref>

When ]'s ''The Departed'' was released to theaters in October 2006, Monahan received considerable praise from critics and was applauded for his depiction of the city of ]. Monahan had chosen not to watch ''Infernal Affairs'' so that he could create an original interpretation of the ], and instead worked from an ] translation of the ] script.<ref>{{cite news |title=Movie Review: The Departed |author=Beth Accomando |date=] |publisher=KPBS.Org |url=http://www.kpbs.org/blogs/movies/2006/10/06/the-departed/ |accessdate=2007-03-10}}</ref> He used his intimate knowledge of the way Bostonians talk and act, learned from his youth spent in the many ], to create characters that '']'' described as distinctly indigenous to the city.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oscar winners weigh in on victory: Backstage notes at the Academy Awards |author=David S. Cohen, Justin Chang |date=] |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960130.html |accessdate=2007-03-02}}</ref><ref name=BostonianOfTheYear>{{cite news |title=The Storyteller |author=Sam Allis| date=] |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/12/31/the_storyteller/ |accessdate=2007-01-02}}</ref>

''The Departed'' won many critics' prizes.<ref>{{cite news |title= 'The Departed' tops Boston film critics' awards |author=Wesley Morris |date=] |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/12/11/the_departed_tops_boston_film_critics_awards/ |accessdate=2007-01-06 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Departed' tops Chicago critics' list |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/190265,CST-FTR-critics29.article |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Oscar 2006: Southeastern Film Critics Select The Departed |date=] |url=http://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=4000 |work=Hollywood News |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref> The '']'' reported that Monahan had hired a ] to run a campaign promoting his screenplay during the awards season,<ref>{{cite news |title=SCRIPTLAND: Publicists get ink for screenwriters: Even Oscar-nominated writers need someone looking out for their interests in the crush of award season. |author=Jay Fernandez |date=] |work=] |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/21/entertainment/et-scriptland21 |accessdate=2007-02-21 }}</ref> although he had in fact hired the publicity firm to manage relations with the studio involved, and had respectfully refused most publicity offers during the awards season, including an appearance on '']''; he rarely does in-person interviews.<ref name=LATimes/> He was honored by the US-Ireland Alliance for his writing in film<ref name=Wilde>{{cite press release |title=Van Morrison, Terry George and Bill Monahan honored in LA |date=] |publisher=US-Ireland Alliance |url=http://www.us-irelandalliance.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=622 |accessdate=2007-03-05}}</ref> and ended up winning two Best Adapted Screenplay awards for ''The Departed'', from the ] and from the ].<ref>{{cite news |title='Departed' shines at WGA kudos: 'Miss' a hit with scribes |author=Dave McNary |date=] |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117959264.html |accessdate=2007-02-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Scorsese cuffs Oscar: 'Departed' named best pic |author=Gregg Kilday |date=] |work=The Hollywood Reporter |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003550152 |accessdate=2007-03-02}}</ref> He was later invited to join the ].<ref>{{cite news | title = Film Academy Invites 115 New Members | url = http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=entertainment&id=5400194 | author = ] | date = June 19, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-06-22 | publisher = abc7.com}}</ref> As of 2007, he is working on a ] for a ], which may be either a prequel or a sequel.<ref>{{cite news |title=Inside Move: 'Departed' to arise? Monahan makes case for sequel |author=Pamela McClintock |date=] |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958390.html |accessdate=2008-10-30}}</ref>

===Taking on producing roles with intent to direct===
] at the ] in Italy (photo by photographer Pietro Coccia).]]

After winning the 2006 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''The Departed'', it was announced that Monahan had been hired to work on two film projects: an adaptation of the ] '']'' and an original Rock and Roll film titled ''The Long Play''. Monahan signed to both ] and write the adaptation of the ] ''Confession of Pain'' for Warner Bros. Pictures, later given the title '']''; it would be his second adaptation of a ] production created by directors ] and ] and screenwriter ].<ref name=AppianWay/><ref>{{cite press release |title=Media Asia's event film "Confession of Pain" |date=] |publisher=Media Asia Entertainment Group Ltd. |url=http://www.mediaasia.com/eng/news_detail.php?Id=249 |accessdate=2007-03-06}}</ref><ref name=AppianWay>{{cite news |title=Monahan, DiCaprio reconnect |author=Borys Kit |date=] |work=The Hollywood Reporter |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003550909 |accessdate=2007-03-02}}</ref><ref name=Nothing>{{cite news |title=Scribes list celebrates tenth edition: Variety marks occasion with alumni update |author=Variety staff |date=2008-06-18 |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117987715.html |accessdate=2008-06-24}}</ref> Monahan's other commission was to rewrite a script about the history of the ] business titled ''The Long Play'', whose first drafts were written by '']'' writer Rich Cohen who was commissioned in 1999 by ] and Martin Scorsese, while subsequent drafts were written by Matthew Weiss.<ref>{{cite news |title=HBO gets 'Tough' with rock scribe Cohen |author=Jonathan Bing |date=] |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117792079.html |accessdate=2007-03-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Matthew Weiss: Filmography |work=The New York Times |url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=231945 |accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref><ref name=TheLongPlay>{{cite news |title=Scorsese, Monahan ready to 'Play': 'Departed' duo rock on at Paramount |author=Michael Fleming, Pamela McClintock |date=] |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960184.html |accessdate=2007-03-02}}</ref>

In 2007, the movie rights to ]' novel '']'', expired and consequently were brought back into the marketplace on behalf of the author's estate.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scott Rudin seizes 'I, Claudius': Producer nabs screen rights to Graves book |author=Michael Fleming |date=2007-09-05 |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971367.html |accessdate=2007-01-15}}</ref> Monahan was briefly linked in the press with a new film project involving the book, but the project eventually passed to another writer.<ref>{{cite news |title=Relativity says aye, 'Claudius': Jim Sheridan to co-write, direct |author=Borys Kit |date=2008-09-12 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i6e1ea93903c4b3a3d377eba19b9ab13a |accessdate=2008-09-12 }}</ref><ref name=Claud1>{{cite news |title=Rudin picks up 'Claudius' film rights: DiCaprio, Monahan eye project |author=Borys Kit |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i6f8f659f09a5fba94b2a2c4671ffd193 |accessdate=2007-10-20}}</ref><ref name=Claud2>{{cite news |title=Hollywood's family fray: Streamlined Disney fights to keep crown |author=Marc Graser |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117973530.html |accessdate=2007-10-20}}</ref>

In the weeks following the end of the ], it was reported that Monahan had been hired by Warner Bros. to adapt the ]n action film '']''. He shortly thereafter entered into a first look deal with GK films, the production company of ], a producer on ''The Departed'', who had hired Monahan in 2007 to write a feature film adaptation of the six-hour 1985 ] mini-series '']''. As part of this deal, Monahan was enlisted to write a script about drug dealer Jim Keene, based on Hillel Levin's '']'' article, "The Strange Redemption of James Keene".<ref>{{cite news |title=All too quiet on the post-strike front |author=Steven Zeitchik and Borys Kit |date=2008-02-22 |work=Hollywood Reporter }}</ref><ref name=Levin>]. "The Strange Redemption of James Keene", '']'', vol. 55, no. 8 (August 2008), pp. 54&ndash;56, 64, 121&ndash;124. NOTE: Levin is currently expanding this article into a book, to explore in greater depth several larger issues he has raised.</ref> Monahan was also reported to have acquired, in conjunction with producer Quentin Curtis, the rights to ]'s novel ''London Boulevard,'' which pays homage to ]. Monahan has written the screenplay and will direct the film.<ref>{{cite news |title='London Boulevard' by Ken Bruen |author=K. Robert Einarson |date=Spring 2007 |publisher=''Spinetingler'' magazine |url=http://www.spinetinglermag.com/london_boulevard_review.htm |accessdate=2008-06-01}}</ref>

===''Body of Lies'' released to theaters===
{{Expand-section|date=October 2008}}

==Writing process==
Monahan prefers that screenplays be written by one author and does not support the collaborative model in which multiple ]s write competing drafts.<ref name=USAToday_facts/> His interest in motion pictures began at an early age, but he admittedly steered clear of the ] because he mistakenly surmised that the collaborative model was a de facto practice for creating screenplays.<ref name=WGAw/> However, in his mid 30s, he went to Hollywood to adapt his first novel into a film and later discovered that if you produce exceptional work, you can "stick to your own model of work, instead of caving in to industry expectations", however, he acknowledged that the writer does need to have the backing of a powerful ] who will protect his vision.<ref name=Verbinski/><ref name=WGAw/> Since then, he has generally been the sole writer on his screenplays, except for '']'', which was taken over by ] and rewritten when Monahan had to go on location for ''Kingdom of Heaven''.<ref name=USAToday_facts/>

Monahan has quipped that, having studied ] for over 30 years, he is "post-conscious about craft".<ref name=Frosty/> When doing historical fiction he reads the available ]s and will not look at a contemporary book.<ref name=Crusade/><ref>{{cite news |title=A burly war epic and a gay TV channel. Next year should be fun |author=Richard Corliss and Jeanne McDowell |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101041011/nextentertainment.html |accessdate=2007-03-06}}</ref> He is critical of the instruction given by people running screenwriting courses,<ref name=Frosty/> and has said that "classes and books on screenwriting do far more harm than good, because writing drama is intuitional and case-by-case".<ref name=LATimes/> He has stated a couple of times that he believes there are no general rules to writing, and, in a Collider.com interview, he further elaborated that he has come to realize that "ach work has its own inherent rules. You discover them. You don’t import them."<ref name=LATimes/><ref name=Frosty/>

In his experience he has found that "when you’re writing a character, you are that character", musing that "It’s probably no joke that ] was an actor."<ref name=BlackBook>{{cite news |title=Fiction (With a Twist of Lennon) |author=William Monahan interviews ] |date=] |publisher='']'' magazine |url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/features/comments/fiction-with-a-twist-of-lennon1/ |accessdate=2007-10-20}}</ref>

Monahan has said that he would prefer to work on an old ] typewriter in many instances because there are too many distractions on a modern ].<ref name=Frosty/>

==Credits==
===Essays, criticism, reviews, and short fiction===
{{main|List of works by William Monahan }}

===Novels and serialized work===
* {{cite book |title=] |author=— |month=June | year=2000 |publisher=Riverhead Books |location=New York |isbn=9781573221580}}
* —. '']'' (Weekly serial in '']'' under the pseudonym Claude La Badarian, 21 June 2001 to 12 September 2001).

===Films===
*'']'' (2005; screenplay)
*'']'' (2006; screenplay)
*'']'' (2008; screenplay)
*'']'' (2009; in production; screenplay)<ref name=Edge>{{cite news |title=Mel Gibson returns for 'Darkness': Actor back onscreen with 'Edge' |author=Michael Fleming |date=2008-04-28 |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/VR1117984773.html}}</ref>

===Screenplays (yet to be produced)===
*''Light House'' (2000; adaptation of Monahan's satirical novel '']'')<ref>{{cite web |title=About This Book: Light House: A Trifle |publisher=Powell's Books |url=http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=17-157322877x-0 |accessdate=2007-03-08}}</ref>
*''Tripoli'' (2001; Monahan's first sale of a ])
*''Mazar e Sharif'' (adaptation of author ]'s book ''The Horse Soldiers: A True Story of Modern War'')
*''Blood Meridian'' (adaptation of ]'s '']'')
*''Wartime Lies'' (adaptation of ]'s '']'')
*''The Venetian''<ref name=Henceforth/>
*'']'' (adaptation of the Hong Kong action film '']'')<ref name=Nothing/>
*''London Boulevard'' (adaptation of novelist ]'s ''London Boulevard'' (2001); Monahan is also directing)<ref name=DirectingDebut>{{cite news |title=Monahan takes Bruen's 'Boulevard': Scribe to make directing debut on crime drama |author=Michael Fleming |date=2008-04-02 |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117983390.html}}</ref>
*'']'' (first drafts of screenplay)

===Screenplays (unwritten)===
*''The Gamblers'' (adaptation of ]'s ''The Gamblers'')
*''The Long Play'' (rewrite)
*Untitled Jim Keene Project (adaptation of a '']'' article about drug dealer Jim Keene)<ref name=Playboy>{{cite news |title=Monahan to write Paramount thriller: Story based on upcoming Playboy article |author=Michael Fleming |date=2008-03-19 |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982681.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Untitled Jim Keene Project (2010) |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1143919/ |publisher=IMDB}}</ref>
*''The Chaser'' (adaptation of the South Korean crime movie '']'')<ref name=Playboy/><ref>{{cite news |title=Warner Bros. to remake 'The Chaser': Studio picks up rights to South Korean hit |author=Michael Fleming and Darcy Paquet |date=2008-03-06 |work=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982002.html}}</ref>

==References and notes==
{{reflist|2}}


==Further reading== ==Further reading==
* The shooting script for ''The Departed'' is available for
{{main|List of works by William Monahan}}
* The first draft for ''Kingdom of Heaven'' is available on Disc 3 of the ''Kingdom of Heaven'' Director's Cut (Four-Disc Special Edition) DVD.
* The shooting script for ''The Departed'' is available for
* {{cite news |title=One flew over the Boston fence |author=William Monahan |date=] |work=] |url=http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117959665.html |accessdate=2007-02-20 }}


===Interviews=== ===Interviews===
* {{cite web|title=A Man of Letters |author=Dylan Callaghan |date=October 13, 2006 |url=http://www.wga.org/subpage.aspx?id=2240 |publisher=Writers Guild of America, West |access-date=January 1, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015712/http://www.wga.org/subpage.aspx?id=2240 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }}
* {{cite news |title=Collider Exclusive – Ridley Scott and William Monahan Q&A |date=2006-04-09 |publisher=Collider.com |author=Mr.Beaks |url=http://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp?aid=2702&tcid=1 |accessdate=2008-08-08 }} NOTE: Contains two audio interviews, each approximately twenty-five minutes long.
* {{cite news |title=A Man of Letters |author=Dylan Callaghan |date=] |url=http://www.wga.org/subpage.aspx?id=2240 |publisher=Writers Guild of America, West |accessdate=2007-01-01}} * {{cite news |title=William Monahan – Exclusive Interview|author=Frosty |date=February 18, 2007 |publisher=Collider.com |url=https://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp?aid=3700&tcid=1 |access-date=February 20, 2007}}
* {{cite news |title=William Monahan&nbsp;– Exclusive Interview |author=Frosty |date=] |publisher=Collider.com |url=http://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp?aid=3700&tcid=1 |accessdate=2007-02-20}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{imdb name|id=1184258|name=William Monahan}}
*{{IMDb name|1184258}}
* on the red carpet for ''Body of Lies''.


{{Navboxes
<!-- Metadata: see ] -->
| title = Awards for William Monahan
{{featured article}}
| list =
{{AcademyAwardBestAdaptedScreenplay 2001-2020}}
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}}
{{Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{Satellite Award Best Adapted Screenplay}}
{{Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}}
{{Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay}}
}}

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata
|NAME= Monahan, William J.
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= ], ]ist
|DATE OF BIRTH= November 3, 1960
|PLACE OF BIRTH= ], ]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monahan, William}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Monahan, William}}
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
] ]
]

]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 15:12, 26 December 2024

American screenwriter and novelist

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous.
Find sources: "William Monahan" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
William Monahan
October 2006October 2006
Born (1960-11-03) November 3, 1960 (age 64)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation
  • Screenwriter
  • novelist
  • journalist
  • essayist
Alma materUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
Notable awardsAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (2007)
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (2007)

William J. Monahan (born November 3, 1960) is an American screenwriter and novelist. His second produced screenplay was The Departed, a film that earned him a Writers Guild of America Award and Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Writer and editor

Monahan was born in Dorchester, Boston. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he studied Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. He moved to New York City and contributed to the alternative weekly newspaper New York Press and the magazines Talk, Maxim, and Spy. In 1997 Monahan won a Pushcart Prize for his short story "A Relation of Various Accidents Observable in Some Animals Included in Vacuo". Monahan was an editor at Spy during the magazine's final years, where he would come in at the close of the monthly issue to rewrite articles and improve jokes.

In 1999 Talk magazine debuted, and Monahan contributed a travelogue on Gloucester, Massachusetts, to the first issue. In 2000 Monahan's first novel, Light House: A Trifle, was finally published, and it garnered critical acclaim; The New York Times proclaimed, "Monahan's cocksure prose gallops along" and BookPage Fiction called Monahan "a worthy successor to Kingsley Amis." In the second half of 2001 Monahan wrote a fictional column at the New York Press under the pseudonym of Claude La Badarian, which ran for 13 weeks.

Screenwriting career

Warner Bros. optioned the film rights to the novel Light House: A Trifle. The screenplay adaptation has not been produced. Light House was released in 2000. A few years later, he bought back the rights and took the novel off the market.

In 2001 20th Century Fox bought Monahan's spec script Tripoli, about William Eaton's epic march on Tripoli during the Barbary Wars, in a deal worth mid-six figures in American dollars, with Mark Gordon attached as producer. The script was given to Ridley Scott to direct. Monahan met with Scott to discuss Tripoli, and Scott mentioned his desire to direct a film about knights. Monahan suggested the Crusades as a setting, reasoning that "you've got every conceivable plot imaginable there, which is far more exotic than fiction". Scott was captivated by Monahan's pitch and hired him to write the screenplay for Kingdom of Heaven. Tripoli was eventually shelved, but Monahan retained ownership of the screenplay and therefore the right to consider new offers at a later date.

Monahan steadily secured work in the film industry throughout the 2000s. Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B, hired Monahan to write an adaptation of Hong Kong director Andrew Lau's gangster film Infernal Affairs. Monahan respun Infernal Affairs as a battle between Irish American gangsters and cops in Boston's Southie district, and Martin Scorsese directed the completed screenplay under the title The Departed for Warner Bros. Monahan's work on the film would later earn him two Best Adapted Screenplay awards, from the Writers Guild of America and the Academy Awards.

Working scripts through production and after

Main articles: Kingdom of Heaven (film) and The Departed

Kingdom of Heaven was the first of Monahan's screenplays to be produced into a film. Monahan had negotiated a production write-through contract for Kingdom of Heaven, which allowed him to be present on the movie sets to make modifications to the shooting script during production. It was poorly received by critics when it was released in theaters in 2005. Kingdom was critically reappraised when it was released on DVD in the form of a director's cut that contained an additional 45 minutes of footage previously shot from Monahan's shooting script. Some critics were pleased with the extended version of the film.

Monahan's second produced screenplay was The Departed, an adaptation of the Hong Kong action film Infernal Affairs. Jack Nicholson, one of the leads in the film, influenced the screenplay. "I had written the role as a post-sexual 68-year-old Irishman. Jack is post-sexual exactly never," Monahan said later. "What Jack did is great. Did he change the words? Not any of the good ones." Monahan received considerable praise from critics when the film was released in theaters, in 2006, and was applauded for accurately depicting the city of Boston. Monahan used his intimate knowledge of the way Bostonians talk and act, learned from his youth spent in the many neighborhoods of Boston, to create characters that The Boston Globe described as distinctly indigenous to the city.

By the end of 2006 The Departed had won many critics' prizes. Monahan was honored by The Boston Society of Film Critics with the award for best screenplay, by the Chicago Film Critics Association for best adapted screenplay, and by the Southeastern Film Critics Association with another best adapted screenplay award. Monahan took an unusual route for a screenwriter and hired a publicist to run a campaign promoting his screenplay during awards season. Monahan ended up winning two Best Adapted Screenplay awards for The Departed, from the Writers Guild of America and the Academy Awards. He received an award for his writing in film at the US-Ireland Alliance's second annual "Oscar Wilde: Honoring Irish Writing in Film" ceremony.

Producing and directing

This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (October 2012)

In 2006 Monahan negotiated a first-look producing deal with Warner Bros., which gave the studio a right of first refusal on any films produced by Henceforth, the production company he started. In return Henceforth received the film rights to produce John Pearson's true crime book The Gamblers, a property which Warner Bros. had previously acquired.

In 2007 Monahan was hired to work on two film projects: an adaptation of the Hong Kong film Confession of Pain and an original rock and roll film, The Long Play. Monahan was initially assigned to executive produce and write the adaptation for Confession of Pain, under production by Leonardo DiCaprio's company, Appian Way, for Warner Bros. Pictures. It would represent his second adaption of an Andrew Lau and Alan Mak film. Monahan's other assignment was to rewrite a screenplay about the history of the rock music business called The Long Play, the brainchild of Mick Jagger, lead singer of The Rolling Stones, which had been incubating at Jagger's production company, Jagged Films at Disney. Martin Scorsese became involved while the film project was at Disney and subsequently negotiated a turnaround deal to bring The Long Play to Paramount. However, neither of these projects were completed.

Monahan's directorial debut was London Boulevard, released in 2010, which he also produced. An adaption of a Ken Bruen work by the same name, it was received with both criticism and praise, with The Hollywood Reporter stating that as director he "sashays winningly" into the premise of Bruen's "stylish line in mean-streets poetry", further commenting the film as "adapted sharply". Others adjudged the film as unfocused, complaining of "a surplus of plot threads that don't have space to play out, and accordingly com across as clichés", that he "ended up with more than he can chew for his first time in the director's chair".

A few years later, a version of The Gambler was finally generated, as written and executive produced. The film received mixed reviews, with some people complementing Jessica Lange's performance, while others, including Peter Travers from Rolling Stone, calling the film's unclear character motivations "wearying". This remake also suffered from comparison and contrasting with the original film on which it's based.

His most recent directorial and producer credit was the film Mojave, which he also wrote. Announced on March 22, 2012, and cast between December 4 until well past principal photography began, production was stalled until September 27, 2013. The film was released on DirecTV Cinema on December 3, 2015, prior to opening in a limited release on January 22, 2016. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus for the movie is that it "has no shortage of talent on either side of the camera; unfortunately, it amounts to little more than a frustrating missed opportunity." Sean Burns ripped into the movie, calling it "elliptical and at times preposterously entertaining, that both sends up and embraces every chest-beating trope in that old alpha 'He-Man of letters' tradition", and dances with the idea that some of the movie "is Monahan indulging in a bit of sardonic self-flaggelation for all his success in the industry". The Observer's Rex Reed labeled it "gibberish with guns and phony literary pretentiousness about two thugs in a duel of weapons and words that goes nowhere fast", contending that his high-quality work on The Departed was inexplicable, as he had "written nothing of value since". Continuing, he said that "as a director he evokes gales of guffaws".

Works

Novel

Film

Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
2005 Kingdom of Heaven No Yes No
2006 The Departed No Yes No Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay - Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominated
2008 Body of Lies No Yes No
2010 Edge of Darkness No Yes No
London Boulevard Yes Yes Yes
2014 The Gambler No Yes Executive
2015 Mojave Yes Yes Yes
2021 The Tender Bar No Yes No
2022 Marlowe No Yes No

References

  1. John Koch (February–March 2007). "Profane Eloquence: Through the words of William Monahan, Boston swagger meets Hong Kong crime drama". The Writers Guild of America, West. Written By Magazine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2007.
  2. ^ Sam Allis (October 3, 2006). "Standing at the corner of Shakespeare and Scorsese". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
  3. Dylan Callaghan (October 13, 2006). "A Man of Letters". Writers Guild of America, West. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
  4. William Monahan (July 1997). "A Relation of Various Accidents Observable in Some Animals Included in Vacuo". In Bill Henderson (ed.). The Pushcart Prize XXI: Best of the Small Presses (1997). Pushcart Press. ISBN 978-1-888889-00-0.
  5. Russ Smith (August 11, 1999). "MUGGER: I'm in Bermuda and Rick Lazio Isn't". Jewish World Review. Retrieved March 8, 2007.
  6. ^ "Van Morrison, Terry George and Bill Monahan honored in LA" (Press release). US-Ireland Alliance. February 26, 2007. Archived from the original on July 26, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  7. William Georgiades (July 23, 2000). "An Offshore Farce". The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2007.
  8. Bruce Tierney (2000). "Review: Light House". BookPage Fiction. Archived from the original on December 2, 2006. Retrieved March 15, 2007.
  9. William Monahan (June 21, 2001). "The Last Supper: Being eventually a PROPOSAL for a column called DINING LATE WITH CLAUDE LA BADARIAN". New York Press. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved March 6, 2007.
  10. William Monahan (August 15, 2001). "That Asshole, Monahan by Claude La Badarian". New York Press. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved March 9, 2007.
  11. ^ Frosty (February 18, 2007). "William Monahan – Exclusive Interview". Collider.com. Retrieved February 20, 2007.
  12. Chris Petrikin, Dan Cox (January 12, 1999). "'Mars' loses Verbinski: Studio, director cannot agree". Variety. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
  13. ^ Susan Wloszczyna (February 15, 2007). "William Monahan: His 'Departed' left Hong Kong for the USA". USA Today. Retrieved February 25, 2007.
  14. Cathy Dunkley, Jonathan Bing (November 27, 2001). "Monahan 'Tripoli' spec lands on Gordon's shore". Variety. Retrieved January 5, 2007.
  15. Garth Franklin (May 4, 2005). "Interview: Ridley Scott "Kingdom of Heaven"". Dark Horizons. Archived from the original on May 5, 2005. Retrieved January 5, 2007.
  16. Stax (February 20, 2007). "Monahan Talks Tripoli: Will the Ridley Scott epic be resurrected?". IGN. Retrieved February 20, 2007.
  17. Claude Brodesser, Cathy Dunkley (February 12, 2004). "Scorsese takes on Hong Kong gangs: Pitt considering role in popular 'Infernal' redo". Variety. Retrieved January 6, 2007.
  18. Dade Hayes (December 14, 2006). "Brad Pitt's role as filmmaker threatens to eclipse his actorly exploits and tabloid profile". Variety. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
  19. James Berardinelli (2006). "Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut:A Film Review". ReelViews.net. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
  20. David S. Cohen, Justin Chang (February 25, 2007). "Oscar winners weigh in on victory: Backstage notes at the Academy Awards". Variety. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
  21. Sam Allis (December 31, 2006). "The Storyteller". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
  22. Wesley Morris (December 11, 2006). "'The Departed' tops Boston film critics' awards". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 6, 2007.
  23. "'Departed' tops Chicago critics' list". Chicago Sun-Times. December 29, 2006. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2007.
  24. "Oscar 2006: Southeastern Film Critics Select The Departed". Hollywood News. December 19, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2007.
  25. Fernandez, Jay A. (February 21, 2007). "Publicists get ink for screenwriters". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  26. Dave McNary (February 11, 2007). "'Departed' shines at WGA kudos: 'Miss' a hit with scribes". Variety. Retrieved February 21, 2007.
  27. Gregg Kilday (February 26, 2007). "Scorsese cuffs Oscar: 'Departed' named best pic". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
  28. Michael Fleming (October 5, 2006). "'Departed' scribe digs WB: Studio inks overall deal with Monahan". Variety. Retrieved January 5, 2007.
  29. Borys Kit (February 27, 2007). "Monahan, DiCaprio reconnect". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
  30. Michael Fleming, Pamela McClintock (February 26, 2007). "Scorsese, Monahan ready to 'Play': 'Departed' duo rock on at Paramount". Variety. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
  31. Bennett, Ray (November 26, 2010). "London Boulevard: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  32. Alison Willmore (November 10, 2011). "London Boulevar d". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  33. Betsy Sharkey (November 11, 2011). "'London Boulevard': Crime, fame, Colin Farrell not a good mix". LA Times. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  34. Jacobs, Matthew; Rosen, Christopher (December 9, 2014). "One Of These 21 Women Will Probably Win Best Supporting Actress At The 2015 Oscars". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  35. Schaefer, Stephen (November 20, 2014). "Who supports Best?". Boston Herald. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  36. Guzman, Rafer (December 23, 2014). "'The Gambler' review: Low on action and tension". Newsday. Retrieved January 10, 2015. a terrific Jessica Lange
  37. Travers, Peter (December 30, 2014). "'The Gambler' Movie Review". Rolling Stone.
  38. "The Gambler (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  39. Renner, Brian D. "Everything You Need to Know About Mojave Movie (2016): Feb. 13, 2016 - added the US DVD release date of April 5, 2016". Movie Insider. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  40. Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 22, 2012). "Atlas Independent Steps Up For William Monahan Thriller 'Mojave'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  41. ^ Kit, Borys (December 4, 2012). "Oscar Isaac and Jason Clarke to Star in William Monahan Thriller 'Mojave'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  42. Sneider, Jeff (May 16, 2013). "'Tron: Legacy' Star Garrett Hedlund to Join Oscar Isaac in William Monahan's 'Mojave' Movie". TheWrap. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  43. Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 18, 2013). "Louise Bourgoin Joins Oscar Isaac And Garrett Hedlund In 'Mojave'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  44. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 27, 2013). "'Justified's Walton Goggins Joins William Monahan Pic 'Mojave'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  45. "Fran Kranz Joins 'Mojave'". Deadline Hollywood. October 2, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  46. White, James (November 7, 2013). "Exclusive New Images From William Monahan's Mojave". empireonline.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  47. Pearce, Leonard (December 2, 2015). "Oscar Isaac Hunts Down Garrett Hedlund in First Trailer For 'Mojave'". TheFilmStage. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  48. "Mojave (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  49. "William Monahan Revives The Pseudo-Intellectual Alpha Males No One Wanted Back In 'Mojave'". www.wbur.org. January 28, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  50. "'Mojave' Is the Worst Movie of the Still-Young New Year". Observer. January 20, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2022.

Further reading

Interviews

External links

Awards for William Monahan
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
1928–1950
1951–1975
1976–2000
2001–present
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay
Screenplay
(1980–2021)
Original Screenplay
(2022–present)
Adapted Screenplay
(2022–present)
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay
Screenplay
(1996–2009)
Original Screenplay
(2010–present)
Adapted Screenplay
(2010–present)
Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Adapted Drama
(1969–1983)
Adapted Comedy
(1969–1983)
Adapted Screenplay
(1984–present)
Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
Categories:
William Monahan: Difference between revisions Add topic