Joe Carnahan
Encyclopedia
Joseph Aaron "Joe" Carnahan (born May 9, 1969) is an American independent
film director
, screenwriter
, producer and actor
best known for his films Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane
, Narc
, Smokin' Aces
and The A-Team
. He is the brother of screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan
.
and Northern California
, Carnahan became employed in the promotional department of Sacramento
's KMAX-TV
, producing short films and television spots.
which premiered in September 1997 at the New York's Independent Feature Film Market and later at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival
.
He directed the 2002 Detroit set thriller Narc
, starring Ray Liotta
and Jason Patric
. At one point he was solicited to direct Mission: Impossible III
, produced by Tom Cruise
and Paula Wagner
(who also executive produced Narc), however he subsequently left the production due to conflicting views on the tone of the film. It was also announced in October 2005 Carnahan would be directing a film based on the life of convicted drug dealer Will Wright, but the project seems to be abandoned.
His next film, Smokin' Aces
, was produced in 2006 and released in January 2007. He also co-wrote the screenplay of Pride and Glory
, released in 2008 nearly a year behind schedule.
He is also attached to direct an adaptation of James Ellroy
's novel White Jazz
with George Clooney
producing and starring, but Clooney later pulled out from the production. He was also set to direct Mark Bowden
's book Killing Pablo, but there is no set release date for the film. Most recently, Carnahan penned Remarkable Fellows for Universal and is writing the action science fiction piece Cobalt with good friend and actor Brian Bloom. Both Bloom and Carnahan were then hired by Fox for the revamping of their long-gestating A-Team
project, based on the hit '80's television series
. Carnahan directed the film. He is also slated to direct the thriller The Grey, starring Bradley Cooper
and Liam Neeson
. He may direct the film adaption of the Garth Ennis
graphic novel Preacher
.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, 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:...
, producer and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for his films Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane
Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane
Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane is a 1998 independent action comedy film written and directed by Joe Carnahan...
, Narc
Narc (film)
Narc is a 2002 crime film about corrupt police involved in the illegal drug trade. It was released to critical acclaim and moderate commercial success. It was written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The plot revolves around the efforts of two police detectives as they search for the murderer of an...
, Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces is a 2006 crime film, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Jeremy Piven as a Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant and Ryan Reynolds as the FBI agent assigned to protect him...
and The A-Team
The A-Team (film)
The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
. He is the brother of screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan
Matthew Michael Carnahan
Matthew Michael Carnahan is an American screenwriter who wrote the feature films The Kingdom , Lions for Lambs and the film adaptation of both the hit BBC television drama serial State of Play and the novel White Jazz. Carnahan wrote the screenplay for Lions for Lambs for United Artists...
.
Early life
Raised in MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, Carnahan became employed in the promotional department of Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
's KMAX-TV
KMAX-TV
KMAX-TV, channel 31, is the CW affiliate serving the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, California broadcast area. The station is owned by CBS Television Stations along with the local CBS station, KOVR; the two stations are two of the 3 English network O&Os in the market, along with Ion Television...
, producing short films and television spots.
Movie career
In 1998 he won some cult and critical acclaim for his film Blood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets and Octane
Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane is a 1998 independent action comedy film written and directed by Joe Carnahan...
which premiered in September 1997 at the New York's Independent Feature Film Market and later at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
.
He directed the 2002 Detroit set thriller Narc
Narc (film)
Narc is a 2002 crime film about corrupt police involved in the illegal drug trade. It was released to critical acclaim and moderate commercial success. It was written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The plot revolves around the efforts of two police detectives as they search for the murderer of an...
, starring Ray Liotta
Ray Liotta
[File:Ray Liotta is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Henry Hill in the crime-drama Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese and his role as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams...
and Jason Patric
Jason Patric
Jason Patric is an American film, television and stage actor. He may be best-known for his roles in the films The Lost Boys, Sleepers, Your Friends & Neighbors, Narc, The Losers and Speed 2: Cruise Control. His father was actor/playwright Jason Miller...
. At one point he was solicited to direct Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible III is a 2006 spy film, the third based on the spy-themed television series Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt....
, produced by Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
and Paula Wagner
Paula Wagner
Paula Wagner is an American film producer and film executive.-Early career:Wagner began her career at Creative Artists Agency. In 1993 she launched Cruise/Wagner Productions with her former CAA client Tom Cruise. C/W's first film, Mission: Impossible, was an international hit that brought the...
(who also executive produced Narc), however he subsequently left the production due to conflicting views on the tone of the film. It was also announced in October 2005 Carnahan would be directing a film based on the life of convicted drug dealer Will Wright, but the project seems to be abandoned.
His next film, Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces is a 2006 crime film, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Jeremy Piven as a Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant and Ryan Reynolds as the FBI agent assigned to protect him...
, was produced in 2006 and released in January 2007. He also co-wrote the screenplay of Pride and Glory
Pride and Glory (film)
Pride and Glory is a 2008 crime drama film directed by Gavin O'Connor. It stars Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, and Noah Emmerich. The film was released on October 24, 2008, in the United States....
, released in 2008 nearly a year behind schedule.
He is also attached to direct an adaptation of James Ellroy
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...
's novel White Jazz
White Jazz
White Jazz is a 1992 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. It is the fourth in his L.A. Quartet, preceded by The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, and L.A. Confidential....
with George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
producing and starring, but Clooney later pulled out from the production. He was also set to direct Mark Bowden
Mark Bowden
Not to be confused with Mark Bowden, U.N. Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Somalia.Mark Robert Bowden is an American writer and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he is a 1973 graduate of Loyola University Maryland...
's book Killing Pablo, but there is no set release date for the film. Most recently, Carnahan penned Remarkable Fellows for Universal and is writing the action science fiction piece Cobalt with good friend and actor Brian Bloom. Both Bloom and Carnahan were then hired by Fox for the revamping of their long-gestating A-Team
The A-Team (film)
The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
project, based on the hit '80's television series
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
. Carnahan directed the film. He is also slated to direct the thriller The Grey, starring Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
and Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
. He may direct the film adaption of the Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...
graphic novel Preacher
Preacher (comics)
Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....
.
Director
- Blood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane is a 1998 independent action comedy film written and directed by Joe Carnahan...
(1998) - NarcNarc (film)Narc is a 2002 crime film about corrupt police involved in the illegal drug trade. It was released to critical acclaim and moderate commercial success. It was written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The plot revolves around the efforts of two police detectives as they search for the murderer of an...
(2002) - Smokin' AcesSmokin' AcesSmokin' Aces is a 2006 crime film, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Jeremy Piven as a Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant and Ryan Reynolds as the FBI agent assigned to protect him...
(2007) - The A-TeamThe A-Team (film)The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
(2010) - The Grey (2012)
- Killing Pablo (TBA)
- White Jazz (TBA)
Screenwriter
- Blood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane is a 1998 independent action comedy film written and directed by Joe Carnahan...
(1998) - NarcNarc (film)Narc is a 2002 crime film about corrupt police involved in the illegal drug trade. It was released to critical acclaim and moderate commercial success. It was written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The plot revolves around the efforts of two police detectives as they search for the murderer of an...
(2002) - Smokin' AcesSmokin' AcesSmokin' Aces is a 2006 crime film, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Jeremy Piven as a Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant and Ryan Reynolds as the FBI agent assigned to protect him...
(2007) - Pride and GloryPride and Glory (film)Pride and Glory is a 2008 crime drama film directed by Gavin O'Connor. It stars Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, and Noah Emmerich. The film was released on October 24, 2008, in the United States....
(2008) - With Gavin O'Connor - Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' BallSmokin' Aces 2: Assassins' BallSmokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball is an action crime film directed by P.J. Pesce and starring Tom Berenger, Vinnie Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Autumn Reeser and Ernie Hudson. The film is a prequel to Joe Carnahan's 2007 film Smokin' Aces. The film centers on an FBI desk jockey who is targeted for murder...
(2009) - Story Only - The A-TeamThe A-Team (film)The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
(2010) - With Brian Bloom and Skip Woods - The Grey (2012) - With Ian McKenzie Jeffers
- Bunny Lake Is MissingBunny Lake Is MissingBunny Lake Is Missing is a 1965 British psychological thriller film directed and produced by Otto Preminger, who filmed it in black and white widescreen format in London. It was based on the novel of the same name by Merriam Modell. The score is by Paul Glass and the opening theme is often heard as...
(TBA) - White Jazz (TBA)
- Killing Pablo (TBA)
Producer
- Blood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane is a 1998 independent action comedy film written and directed by Joe Carnahan...
(1998) - The Fourth KindThe Fourth KindThe Fourth Kind is a 2009 American mockumentary science fiction film starring Milla Jovovich, Charlotte Milchard, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, and Mia McKenna-Bruce. The title is derived from the expansion of J...
(2009) - The Grey (2012)
Actor
- Blood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets and OctaneBlood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane is a 1998 independent action comedy film written and directed by Joe Carnahan...
(1998) - Sid French - The A-TeamThe A-Team (film)The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
(2010) - Mexican Hospital Liaison (Uncredited)