Background and career
Christopher Joseph Columbus (born September 10, 1958) is an American filmmaker. Born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, Columbus studied film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. After writing screenplays for several teen comedies in the mid-1980s, including Gremlins, The Goonies, and Young Sherlock Holmes, he made his directorial debut with a teen adventure, Adventures in Babysitting (1987). Columbus gained recognition soon after with the highly successful Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990) and its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). The comedy Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), starring Robin Williams, was another box office success for Columbus. He went on to direct several other films throughout the 1990s, which were mostly met with lukewarm reception. However, he found commercial success again for directing the film adaptations of J. K. Rowling's novels, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). Columbus was a producer of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and the drama The Help (2011), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He also directed the fantasy Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and the 3D action comedy Pixels (2015). Columbus will next direct, co-write and produce the long-awaited Gremlins 3 which is scheduled for release on October 6, 2028. Columbus is the co-founder of 1492 Pictures, a film production company that has produced some of his films since 1995. More recently, he co-founded another production firm with his daughter in 2014, called Maiden Voyage Pictures. Columbus is also known for his collaboration with composer John Williams, with whom he has worked both on the first two Home Alone films and the first two Harry Potter films.
Columbus was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, the only child of Irene Mary (née Puskar), a factory inspector for General Motors, and Alexander Michael Columbus, an aluminum plant worker and coal miner. He is of Italian and Slovak descent. His mother's grandfather, Jozef Puškár, was born in Tarna, Ung County, Austria-Hungary (today Trnava pri Laborci, Slovakia) and embarked on NDL's SS Friedrich der Große in Bremen on May 25, 1901, arriving at Ellis Island on June 5, 1901. Her other grandfather, Jozef Burík, was from Vinna-Banka (today Vinné). As a youth, growing up in Champion, Ohio, Columbus enjoyed drawing storyboards and Marvel Comics, and began making 8 mm films in high school. Columbus attended New York University's film school at the Tisch School of the Arts, where he was a classmate of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Alec Baldwin. Although he received a scholarship, he forgot to renew it and was forced to take a factory job to pay for schooling. While on shifts, he secretly worked on a 20-page screenplay, which one of his teachers would later use to help him get an agent. Columbus stated that the experience "saved [his] life" and he was able to acknowledge "the terrifying reality I faced of having to live and work in that factory for the rest of my life in that town if I didn't make it". Columbus graduated from NYU in 1980. In 1980, while a senior at NYU, Columbus directed a short film, I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here, that was later noticed by Steven Spielberg. I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.
Columbus' career began in the early 1980s as a writer for the screenplay of the feature film Reckless (1984). Columbus later admitted, "it wasn't my best work. I intended it to be semi-biographical ... and the film was based on my attempts to break free. But the director turned it into a clumsy teen sex drama and the experience was so degrading." Dissatisfied, Columbus conceived a new screenplay while living in an apartment loft, a comedy-horror titled Gremlins (1984). In late 1981, he eventually received a phone call from Steven Spielberg, who expressed an interest in buying the script. Upon release, the film was a critical success. Columbus then moved to Los Angeles to work for Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, writing more scripts including The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes (both 1985). After staying in Los Angeles for two years, he said, "There's an unreality to the place, a lack of connection with real people." He decided to move back to New York City. He wrote episodes for the animated series Galaxy High (1986) and received screenwriting credit for Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989). Columbus then started his directing career with the teen comedy Adventures in Babysitting (1987). The film received mixed reviews from critics and was regarded as a "mediocre debut". Next, he wrote and directed Heartbreak Hotel (1988) which is a story about Elvis Presley being abducted and finding himself offering counsel and help to a small-town family. The film was a commercial failure at the box office and it also received mixed-to-negative reviews.
In the late 1980s, fellow filmmaker John Hughes approached Columbus to direct Home Alone (1990), a comedy film written by Hughes. Columbus had left National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation before shooting started, because of a personality clash with actor Chevy Chase, who Columbus said treated him "like dirt". Columbus particularly enjoyed the Christmas theme of the Home Alone script and quickly accepted the offer. Subsequently, Columbus hired Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara as the principal cast. Filming took four months between February and May 1990 and the film was released to theaters on November 16, 1990, to commercial success. Home Alone grossed $285 million in North America and $190 million elsewhere for a worldwide $476.7 million, against a budget of $18 million. Nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, the film served as Culkin's breakthrough role. Dave Kehr of Chicago Tribune praised Hughes for writing recognizable characters, and Columbus for direction with "wit and warmth". Home Alone has since been regarded as a "classic" to watch during the holiday season.
In 1991, Columbus wrote and directed the romantic comedy-drama Only the Lonely (1991), with John Hughes serving as co-producer. Starring John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy, and Anthony Quinn, the film depicts a Chicago policeman who must balance his loyalty between his mother and a shy funeral home employee, a loose adaptation of Marty. The film managed to garner some favourable reviews despite performing tepidly at the box office. In 1992, Columbus returned to direct the sequel to the first film, titled Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Featuring the same principal cast of its predecessor, the plot takes place one year after the events of the first film. The film follows Kevin McCallister as he accidentally boards the wrong flight to New York City and finds himself confronted by the two same burglars in the first film. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was released on November 20, 1992, to mixed reviews, but strong box office results, grossing $359 million worldwide. Janet Maslin for The New York Times wrote that "Home Alone 2 may be lazily conceived, but it is staged with a sense of occasion and a lot of holiday cheer. The return of Mr. Culkin in this role is irresistible, even if this utterly natural comic actor has been given little new to do. Mr. Pesci and Mr. Stern bring great gusto to their characters' stupidity". Columbus' next directorial feature was Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), an adaptation of Anne Fine's novel Alias Madame Doubtfire about an unemployed father who disguises himself as a nanny so he can spend time with his children. Starring Robin Williams, Sally Field and Pierce Brosnan, Williams was given creative freedom to improvise his lines, provoking amusement to all of the cast and crew. The film was released by 20th Century Fox in November 1993 to mixed and positive reception. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 72%, praising Williams. Roger Ebert calls Williams "a mercurial talent who loves to dart in and out of many different characters and voices", but thought Mrs. Doubtfire "has the values and depth of a sitcom". However, the film performed well at the box office, earning $441.3 million worldwide. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. In 1995, Columbus co-founded his own production company, 1492 Pictures, named after the year that Christopher Columbus reached the Americas, as a pun on his own name. He then wrote and directed another film, a remake of the French film Neuf mois titled Nine Months (1995), which was produced by 1492 Pictures. A romantic comedy, Nine Months starred Hugh Grant, Julianne Moore, Tom Arnold, Joan Cusack, Jeff Goldblum, and Robin Williams. The story centers on a man who finds out that his longtime girlfriend is pregnant and has to change his lifestyle. Although the film was criticized for being "mismanaged", it was a commercial success, grossing $138.5 million at the box office. He then produced Jingle All the Way (1996), a Christmas comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Columbus followed up on this effort with Stepmom (1998), a comedy-drama starring Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Ed Harris. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan praises Roberts and Harris' performances despite the script having a "tiny handful of honest moments". With an estimated budget of $50 million, the film grossed a healthy $159.7 million worldwide. Sarandon also earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. Columbus collaborated again with Robin Williams for his next project, 1999's Bicentennial Man. Based on the novel The Positronic Man, by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg, the film tells the story of a robot who becomes human-like and acquires emotions. The supporting cast included Sam Neill, Embeth Davidtz, Wendy Crewson, and Oliver Platt. The film was released on December 17, 1999, and was a commercial failure, grossing $87.4 million from a budget of $100 million. Critical response to the film were mixed, with Ben Falk of the BBC describing it as "the worst kind of movie – one with no direction, no identity, and above all no heart". Peter Stack of San Francisco Chronicle opined of the film, "It's a bit strange, and strained. More syrupy melodrama than comedy [...] doesn't have much of the usual Williams manic antics", but compliments the computer-generated imagery. Bicentennial Man was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup at the 72nd Academy Awards.
After his daughter's request to read J. K. Rowling's 1997 fantasy novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Columbus expressed a strong desire to direct the film adaptation. In 2000, he convinced Warner Bros. to select him as director for it. The film is the first installment of the Harry Potter film series and was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. The story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his self-discovery as a famous wizard. Columbus relocated to the United Kingdom with his family to focus on directing. Columbus said the casting process was "very intense", but Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were eventually picked for the lead roles. Filming began on September 29, 2000, and lasted for 180 days. The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on November 4, 2001, to critical and commercial success, grossing $975.1 million worldwide. The film was praised for its sets, costumes, casting, musical score, cinematography and special effects. In addition, it was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Original Score, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. In 2002, Columbus returned to direct the second installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), based on Rowling's second novel. Featuring much of the same cast from the first film, the story follows Harry Potter's second year at the school when a chamber is opened unleashing a monster. Producer David Heyman said, "Fortunately, we benefited from the experience of the first film ... [the cast] have maintained their enthusiasm, sense of wonder". Columbus also opted to use more handheld cameras for freedom of movement. The film was released to theaters on November 15, 2002. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets shared similar critical acclaim to the first film, and grossed $879 million worldwide. A. O. Scott of The New York Times observed that the film was long but praised it for the special effects and "thrilling" sequences. At the 2003 BAFTA Awards, the film garnered nominations for Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects. In 2004, Columbus wrote and produced Christmas with the Kranks, a Christmas comedy based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham; the film was a box office success but received mostly negative reviews. In the same year, Columbus returned for the third installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Physically exhausted from the first two films, he decided not to direct but serve as producer alongside Heyman and director Alfonso Cuarón. The film premiered on May 31, 2004, in the United Kingdom to strong critical praise and earned $796.9 million worldwide. After returning to the United States in 2005, Columbus intended to produce a superhero film, Fantastic Four, but due to disagreements with director Tim Story, he was fired. Next, he directed 2005's Rent, a musical drama adapted from the 1996 Broadway musical of the same name. The film, starring six of the original Broadway cast members, depicts the lives of several Bohemians and their struggles living in East Village of New York City from 1989 to 1990. The film had mixed reviews and a poor box office performance. In 2006, Columbus served as a producer for Night at the Museum, a fantasy film based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by illustrator Milan Trenc, and is the first installment in the Night at the Museum series. The film stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a father who applies for a job at the American Museum of Natural History and subsequently discovers that the exhibits come to life at night. Next, he served as an executive producer for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), a sequel to the first film which was also a commercial success. In 2009, he produced Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, the second installment of the series. Despite mixed reviews, the film was a box office success, earning $413.1 million worldwide. That same year, he directed I Love You, Beth Cooper, a comedy starring Hayden Panettiere and Paul Rust, based on a novel by Larry Doyle. The film was released in July 2009 to negative reviews; Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that Columbus "flattens every joke and sucks the life out of the actors", adding it is "super bad". Despite this setback, Columbus was hired by 20th Century Fox to direct Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), which he also produced. The film is the first installment in the Percy Jackson series and is based on fantasy Greek mythology: the 2005 novel The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Starring an ensemble led by Logan Lerman, the film received mixed reviews (and was panned by fans of the original series) but found box office success upon its release in February. The film grossed $226.4 million worldwide. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as "unadventurous and uninteresting" and criticized screenwriter Craig Titley for changing the original story. The Toronto Star's Linda Barnard praised Columbus' ability to "woo a young audience" but thought the film lacked Harry Potter charm.
