Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director and writer.

Johnson was born in Hastings, Minnesota

Hastings, Minnesota

Hastings is a city in Dakota counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota, near the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers. The population was 22,172 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dakota County. The bulk of Hastings is in Dakota County; only a small part of the city extends...

 and attended California State University

California State University

The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...

, Long Beach. He has directed and co-written the two comic book based films Daredevil

Daredevil (film)

Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil...

and Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider (film)

Ghost Rider is a 2007 superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the character of the same name which appeared in Marvel Comics, the film stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil and transforms into thevigilante Ghost...

. His early writing credits are for the film Grumpy Old Men

Grumpy Old Men (film)

Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote...

and its sequel Grumpier Old Men

Grumpier Old Men

Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert...

. He is often given credit for writing the screenplay for the Marvel

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 film Elektra

Elektra (2005 film)

Elektra is a 2005 superhero film directed by Rob Bowman. It is a spin-off from the 2003 film Daredevil, starring the Marvel comics character Elektra Natchios . The story follows Elektra, an international assassin whose weapon of choice is a pair of sai.For the screenplay, Zak Penn, Stuart Zicherman...

, but he only produced an earlier draft not used for the finished film.

He was writing the pilot

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 for the TV adaptation of Preacher for HBO, however as of August 26, 2008 the project had been canceled by the new head of HBO.

In 2010, Johnson attached himself to direct the action-thriller, "Recoil," about a former FBI sniper dragged back into action when his ex-wife is targeted by a deranged Sniper. Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...

 was in negotiation to re-team with his Ghost Rider director, but word now has producers out to an even bigger male lead. "Recoil" was written by Adam Greenbaum and Christopher Taylor and re-written by Johnson.

In 2011, Johnson attached himself to direct another action-thriller, "Autobahn," in which an unassuming man in a sports car learns his car is outfitted with a deadly bomb and he must race to a certain location in short order to kill a pre-determined target or his family will be killed. The script was written by Gregg Russo, but Johnson will likely re-write. The story is currently set in Germany, but that could change.

Filmography

Year	Film	Credited as
		Writer 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:...	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:...
1993	Grumpy Old Men Grumpy Old Men (film) Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote...
1995	Grumpier Old Men Grumpier Old Men Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert...
1996	Big Bully Big Bully (film) Big Bully is a 1996 comedy-drama film starring Rick Moranis and Tom Arnold. The film was directed by Steve Miner.-Plot:Growing up in Hastings, Minnesota, young David Leary was constantly bullied by Roscoe Bigger , nicknamed "Fang" because of a pointed tooth. David is ecstatic when his parents...
1998	Simon Birch Simon Birch Simon Birch is a 1998 American [drama] film loosely based on A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It was directed and written for the screen by Mark Steven Johnson. The film stars Ian Michael Smith, Joseph Mazzello, Ashley Judd, Oliver Platt, and Jim Carrey. It omitted much of the latter half of...
	Jack Frost Jack Frost (1998 film) Jack Frost is a 1998 Christmas film, starring Michael Keaton and Kelly Preston. Keaton stars as the title character, a man who dies in a car accident and comes back to life as a snowman...
2003	Daredevil Daredevil (film) Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil...
2007	Ghost Rider Ghost Rider (film) Ghost Rider is a 2007 superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the character of the same name which appeared in Marvel Comics, the film stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil and transforms into thevigilante Ghost...
2010	When in Rome

External links

• Mark Steven Johnson at Rotten Tomatoes
  Rotten Tomatoes
  Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...