Drew Goddard

Early life and education

Goddard was born in Houston, Texas, on February 26, 1975, to mother Colleen Mary Hogan and father Laurence Woodbury Goddard, both educators, and raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He attended Los Alamos High School and then University of Colorado Boulder from which he earned, in 1997, a degree in English literature.

Career

2000s

Goddard started his career as a staff writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, receiving a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation for the former.

In 2005, he joined J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot team, where he wrote for both Alias and Lost, winning—along with the Lost writing staff—the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Dramatic Series. In 2006, during its third season, Goddard became the co-executive producer of Lost.

By February 2007, Goddard wrote his first feature, Cloverfield, directed by Matt Reeves and produced by J. J. Abrams. Cloverfield made $168 million on a $25 million budget. Empire named it the fifth best film of 2008, and the film then went on to win the year's Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film.

2010s

Goddard's directorial debut, The Cabin in the Woods, was co-written with Joss Whedon. The Cabin in the Woods was featured on Metacritic's best films of 2012 list, in addition to earning a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film went on to win the year's Saturn Award for Best Horror or Thriller Film, as well as garnering Goddard Saturn's "Filmmaker Showcase Award".

In 2012, Goddard—in addition to J. Michael Straczynski, Matthew Michael Carnahan and Lost showrunner Damon Lindelof—rewrote the third act of the screenplay ahead of reshoots for the film World War Z starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster. The film grossed $540 million on a $190 million budget. As a result, in June 2013, Paramount announced that it was moving ahead with a sequel, though it was eventually scrapped.

In December 2013, Marvel officially announced that Goddard would be the executive producer and showrunner for the Daredevil television series produced by Marvel Television and broadcast on Netflix in 2015. Sony Pictures also announced that Goddard would write and direct a film based on the Sinister Six, though the project was eventually cancelled.{{cite magazine |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/spider-man-spin-sinister-six-694345|title=Spider-Man Spinoff 'Sinister Six' Names Director

In February 2015, after the deal between Marvel and Sony to share the rights to Spider-Man was announced, it was reported that Goddard was in talks with Sony to helm the new Spider-Man reboot film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, although it was later announced that Jon Watts would be the director. Goddard also executive produced and co-wrote an episode of the miniseries The Defenders. The series featured a team-up of the Marvel Television superheroes, including Daredevil. It was released on Netflix in August 2017.

Goddard wrote the film adaptation of Andy Weir's debut novel The Martian, initially planning to direct it himself for 20th Century Fox. He later left the project when offered a chance to direct Sinister Six, a now-canceled comic book adaptation based on a team of supervillains. The Martian was instead directed by Ridley Scott, and received wide critical acclaim. Goddard himself received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

In November 2016, Goddard began writing a spec script for the neo-noir thriller film Bad Times at the El Royale, which he sold to 20th Century Fox in March 2017, revealing he would also produce and direct. The film features an ensemble cast including Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Nick Offerman, and Chris Hemsworth. In 2019 his company, Goddard Textiles struck a multiyear overall deal with Disney Television Studios via 20th Century Fox Television (now 20th Television) and ABC Signature.

2020s

In June 2020 he was announced to be writing the screenplay for Project Hail Mary, based on the novel of the same name, with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller set to direct. In December 2022, FX ordered a pilot for The Trenches, a half-hour animated series created by Goddard. In January 2023, it was revealed Goddard had joined a writers' room assembled by James Gunn to map out the overarching story of the DC Universe. In April 2024, it was announced Goddard was set to write and direct a new installment in The Matrix franchise.

Potential projects

A film based on the Sinister Six was announced to be in development in December 2013, as part of Sony's plans for their own The Amazing Spider-Man shared universe, with Goddard attached to write and potentially direct. Goddard confirmed his intention to direct the film in April 2014. The film was believed to have been canceled by November 2015 when Sony was focusing on its new Spider-Man reboot with Marvel Studios, but producer Amy Pascal stated that the film was "alive" again in December 2018 following the success of Venom, and that she was waiting for Goddard to be ready to direct it before moving forward with the project, now to be set in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe.

In May 2016, Goddard was reported to be writing the screenplay for a film adaptation of the novel Wraiths Of The Broken Land, with Ridley Scott set to direct. By October 2017 he was also attached to write and produce Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name. It was announced in April 2019 that Goddard would write, produce, and possibly direct an adaptation of the graphic novel Sabrina for RT Features and Regency Enterprises.

Personal life

Goddard is married to writer Caroline Williams Goddard, whom he met at a Writers Guild meeting, at a time when she was working for The Office. The couple live in the Los Angeles area with their daughters Harlowe and Tess.

Filmography

Film

Executive producer only

• 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
• The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

Television

Bibliography

• Tales of the Vampires (Dark Horse Comics, collected in trade paperback, Tales of the Vampires, 144 pages, December 2004, , Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales, 288 pages, January 2011, ):
  • "The Problem With Vampires" (with artist Paul Lee, in Tales of the Vampires #1, Dark Horse Comics, December 2003)
  • "Antique" (with artist Ben Stenbeck, in Tales of the Vampires #3, Dark Horse Comics, February 2004)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #12–15: "Wolves at the Gate" (with pencils by Georges Jeanty and inks by Andy Owens, Dark Horse Comics, March–June 2008, tpb, Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8, Volume 3: Wolves at the Gate, 136 pages, November 2008, )

References

References

1. (1990). "The Goddard book".
2. Clark, Carol A.. (February 25, 2016). "On The Brink Of An Oscar!". Los Alamos Daily Post.
3. "Los Alamos High School Alumni: 1993".
4. "Famous University Of Colorado At Boulder Alumni".
5. "English: Featured Alumni".
6. "Winners Announced for 2006 Writers Guild Awards". [[Writers Guild of America]].
7. (July 6, 2007). "Paramount Rolls In The ''Cloverfield''".
8. (December 6, 2013). "Drew Goddard Joins Daredevil on Netflix". Marvel.
9. Dominic Patten. (December 13, 2013). "Sony Sets Spider-Man Spinoffs 'Venom,' 'Sinister Six' With New "Franchise Brain Trust"". Deadline.
10. Goldberg, Lesley. (May 24, 2014). "Marvel's Netflix Drama 'Daredevil' Taps New Showrunner (Exclusive)".
11. Tilly, Chris. (June 17, 2015). "Matt Damon Explains Why The Martian is a Love Letter to Science".
12. Jeff Sneider. (April 9, 2014). "Drew Goddard Exits 'The Martian'; Matt Damon Eyed to Star (Exclusive)". The Wrap.
13. "2016 Academy Awards {{!}} Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".
14. Fischer, Russ. (October 13, 2018). "How Director Drew Goddard Brought Out Chris Hemsworth's Dark Side in 'Bad Times at the El Royale'".
15. Busch, Anita. (March 8, 2017). "Fox Buys 'Bad Times At The El Royale' From Drew Goddard Who Will Also Direct".
16. Kit, Borys. (March 8, 2017). "'The Martian' Screenwriter Sells 'Bad Times at the El Royale' Spec Script to Fox".
17. (August 23, 2017). "Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges to Star in Drew Goddard's 'Bad Times at the El Royale' (Exclusive)".
18. (August 29, 2017). "Tony Winner Cynthia Erivo Joins Drew Goddard's 'Bad Times at the El Royale' (Exclusive)".
19. Sneider, Jeff. (January 8, 2021). "Dakota Johnson to Star Opposite Chris Hemsworth in Drew Goddard's Thriller "Bad Times at the El Royale" (Exclusive)".
20. Couch, Aaron. (October 11, 2018). "How 'Bad Times at the El Royale' Director Convinced Stars to Work for Less".
21. Whittle, CK. (February 2, 2018). "Nick Offerman Joins The Cast Of Thriller Bad Times At The El Royale".
22. McNary, Dave. (August 23, 2017). "Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges in Talks to Star in Drew Goddard's 'Bad Times at the El Royale'".
23. Low, Elaine. (March 21, 2019). "Drew Goddard Inks Exclusive Overall Deal With 20th Century Fox TV".
24. Kit, Borys. (June 18, 2020). "Lord & Miller's 'Project Hail Mary' Enlisting 'The Martian' Scribe Drew Goddard (Exclusive)".
25. White, Peter. (December 1, 2022). "Drew Goddard Lands Animated Pilot 'The Trenches' At FX".
26. Vary, Adam B.. (January 31, 2023). "New DC Universe Unveils First 10 Projects: 'Superman: Legacy' in 2025, Batman & Robin Movie, Green Lantern Series, Wonder Woman Prequel and More".
27. Kit, Borys. (April 3, 2024). "New 'Matrix' Movie in the Works with Drew Goddard Writing, Directing".
28. Patten, Dominic. (December 13, 2013). "Sony Sets Spider-Man Spinoffs 'Venom,' 'Sinister Six' With New "Franchise Brain Trust"".
29. (April 7, 2014). "Spider-Man Spinoff 'Sinister Six' Names Director".
30. (November 10, 2015). "17 Movies Shaken by Sony Hack, From 'The Interview' to 'Spectre' to 'Steve Jobs'".
31. (December 14, 2018). "Sony Finally Untangles Its Spider Web".
32. Fleming, Mike Jr.. (May 10, 2016). "Ridley Scott, Drew Goddard, Fox & 'The Martian' Team Set 'Wraiths Of The Broken Land'".
33. Hipes, Patrick. (October 23, 2017). "Drew Goddard To Write & Produce Fox's 'Nevermoor' Movie".
34. Hipes, Patrick. (2019-04-08). "Drew Goddard To Write, Maybe Direct Movie Based On ‘Sabrina’ Graphic Novel".
35. (May 16, 2023). "ABC Picks Up Kaitlin Olson-Led 'High Potential' Series From Drew Goddard". [[Deadline Hollywood]].