David Peoples
Encyclopedia
- This article is about David Peoples the screenwriter, for the golfer of the same name, see David Peoples (golfer)David Peoples (golfer)David Roy Peoples is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour.Peoples was born in Augusta, Maine...
.
David Webb Peoples (born c. 1940) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Life and career
Peoples was born in Middletown, ConnecticutMiddletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
, the son of Ruth and Joe Webb Peoples, a geologist. He studied English at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He first entered the industry as a film editor, and started writing screenplays during this time, but his writing career began when he was hired as co-writer on the cult classic Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
after director Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
and screenwriter Hampton Fancher
Hampton Fancher
Hampton Fancher is a former actor who became a producer and screenwriter in the late 1970s. Fancher was born to a Mexican mother and an American father in East Los Angeles, California, US. At 15, he ran away to Spain to become a flamenco dancer and renamed himself Mario Montejo. He was married...
separated over creative differences. Following that film's critical success, Peoples was hired by studios to work on films including Ladyhawke
Ladyhawke
Ladyhawke is a 1985 fantasy film directed by Richard Donner, starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film marked the second 20th Century Fox film to be co-produced and co-released by Warner Bros.. The first was The Towering Inferno; this time Warner got the U.S...
, Leviathan, and an unproduced attempt at adapting the Sgt. Rock comic series for Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
.
A number of Peoples' original screenplays were sold during the 1980s, many undergoing lengthy studio development periods before seeing production: among them, Unforgiven
Unforgiven
Unforgiven is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming...
, Soldier
Soldier (film)
Soldier is a 1998 science fiction-action film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The film stars Kurt Russell as Sgt. Todd, a soldier trained from birth...
, and The Blood of Heroes
The Blood of Heroes
The Blood of Heroes is a 1989 Australian post-apocalyptic film directed by David Webb Peoples and starring Rutger Hauer and Joan Chen. The film is also known by the names The Salute of the Jugger and Salute to the Jugger...
. The latter film was the first to go before the cameras, directed by Peoples himself and starring Rutger Hauer.
Peoples received his highest accolades for Unforgiven, a script first written in 1976 (as The William Munny Killings). The film had a lengthy gestation and did not see theaters until 1992. Peoples received Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, Golden Globe and British Academy nominations, and won L.A. Film Critics
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
(1991) and National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
(1992) awards for best screenplay. Because of the success of Unforgiven, Peoples is sometimes credited for revitalizing the Western genre
Western fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
, as well as Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's career.
Released in the same year as Unforgiven, Peoples' screwball comedy Hero
Hero (1992 film)
Hero is a comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, Andy García, Chevy Chase, and Joan Cusack. It was released in the United States on October 20, 1992.-Plot:...
was based on an idea by producer Laura Ziskin
Laura Ziskin
Laura Ellen Ziskin was an American film producer. In 1990, Ziskin was the sole executive producer of the hit comedy Pretty Woman...
and her husband, screenwriter Alvin Sargent
Alvin Sargent
Alvin Sargent is an American screenwriter. He has won two Academy Awards for his screenplays and has been involved in the writing of all movies to date in the Spider-Man film series.-Life and career:...
.
Later in 1992 Peoples began work (in collaboration with wife Janet Peoples
Janet Peoples
Janet Peoples is an American screenwriter.She co-wrote the script for the 1995 Academy Award nominated film Twelve Monkeys with her husband David Peoples who has written a number of films, mostly science fiction or fantasy. She and her husband also co-wrote the 1980 documentary The Day After...
) on Twelve Monkeys
Twelve Monkeys
12 Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film La jetée, and starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Plummer....
(1995), a time-warp action/psychodrama inspired by Chris Marker
Chris Marker
Chris Marker is a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and film essayist. His best known films are La jetée , A Grin Without a Cat , Sans Soleil and AK , an essay film on the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa...
's experimental short film La jetée
La Jetée
La jetée is a 1962 French science fiction film by Chris Marker. It is also known in English as The Jetty or The Pier. Constructed almost entirely from still photos, it tells the story of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel. The film runs for 28 minutes and is in black and white...
. The film was directed by Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
and was successful both critically and commercially.
In 1998 Soldier was belatedly filmed by British director Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson
- Politics and public figures :* Paul Anderson , member of the Minnesota House of Representatives* Paul H. Anderson , U.S. judge* Paul Francis Anderson , U.S...
, albeit on a reduced budget and with additional rewriting by Anderson.
Filmography
- Blade RunnerBlade RunnerBlade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
(1982) - LadyhawkeLadyhawkeLadyhawke is a 1985 fantasy film directed by Richard Donner, starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film marked the second 20th Century Fox film to be co-produced and co-released by Warner Bros.. The first was The Towering Inferno; this time Warner got the U.S...
(1985) - Leviathan (1989)
- The Blood of HeroesThe Blood of HeroesThe Blood of Heroes is a 1989 Australian post-apocalyptic film directed by David Webb Peoples and starring Rutger Hauer and Joan Chen. The film is also known by the names The Salute of the Jugger and Salute to the Jugger...
(also known as The Salute of the Jugger and Salute to the Jugger) (1989) - also director - Fatal Sky (1990) - as Anthony Able
- UnforgivenUnforgivenUnforgiven is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming...
(1992) - HeroHero (1992 film)Hero is a comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, Andy García, Chevy Chase, and Joan Cusack. It was released in the United States on October 20, 1992.-Plot:...
(also known as Accidental Hero) (1992) - Twelve MonkeysTwelve Monkeys12 Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film La jetée, and starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Plummer....
(1995) - SoldierSoldier (film)Soldier is a 1998 science fiction-action film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The film stars Kurt Russell as Sgt. Todd, a soldier trained from birth...
(1998)
External links
- Cinequest Film Festival - Interview with Janet and David Webb Peoples
- A Reluctant Hollywood Hero - 1992 LA Times inerview with David Webb Peoples