Writing

Brian Helgeland

Born January 17, 1961 · Providence, Rhode Island, USA (age 65)

Brian Thomas Helgeland (born January 17, 1961) is an American screenwriter, film producer, and director. He is best known for writing the screenplays for the films L.A. Confidential (1998) and Mystic River (2003). He wrote and directed the films 42, a biopic of Jackie Robinson; and Legend, about the rise and fall of the infamous London gangsters, the Kray twins. His work on L.A. Confidential earne…

Known For

A Knight's Tale

A Knight's Tale · 2001

A Knight's Tale

MovieAdventureDrama

William Thatcher, a knight's peasant apprentice, gets a chance at glory when the knight dies suddenly mid-tournament. Posing as a knight himself, William won't stop until he's crowned tournament champion—assuming matters of the heart don't get in the way.

Mystic River

Mystic River · 2003

MovieThrillerDrama

The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.

L.A. Confidential

L.A. Confidential · 1997

L.A. Confidential

MovieCrimeMystery

Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood · 2010

MovieActionAdventure

When soldier Robin happens upon the dying Robert of Loxley, he promises to return the man's sword to his family in Nottingham. There, he assumes Robert's identity; romances his widow, Marion; and draws the ire of the town's sheriff and King John's henchman, Godfrey.

Man on Fire

Man on Fire · 2004

MovieActionDrama

Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 · 2009

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

MovieCrimeThriller

Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.

The Killer

The Killer · 2024

MovieActionThriller

Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.

Payback

Payback · 1999

MovieActionDrama

With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.

Filmography

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A Knight's Tale

A Knight's Tale · 2001

A Knight's Tale

MovieAdventureDrama

William Thatcher, a knight's peasant apprentice, gets a chance at glory when the knight dies suddenly mid-tournament. Posing as a knight himself, William won't stop until he's crowned tournament champion—assuming matters of the heart don't get in the way.

Director

Mystic River

Mystic River · 2003

MovieThrillerDrama

The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.

Screenplay

L.A. Confidential

L.A. Confidential · 1997

L.A. Confidential

MovieCrimeMystery

Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

Screenplay

Robin Hood

Robin Hood · 2010

MovieActionAdventure

When soldier Robin happens upon the dying Robert of Loxley, he promises to return the man's sword to his family in Nottingham. There, he assumes Robert's identity; romances his widow, Marion; and draws the ire of the town's sheriff and King John's henchman, Godfrey.

Screenplay

Man on Fire

Man on Fire · 2004

MovieActionDrama

Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.

Screenplay

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 · 2009

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

MovieCrimeThriller

Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.

Screenplay

The Killer

The Killer · 2024

MovieActionThriller

Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.

Screenplay

Payback

Payback · 1999

MovieActionDrama

With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.

Screenplay

Legend

MovieCrimeThriller

Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

Writer

Green Zone

Green Zone · 2010

During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors are dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.

Writer

Spenser Confidential

Spenser Confidential · 2020

Spenser Confidential

MovieComedyAction

Spenser, a former Boston patrolman who just got out from prison, teams up with Hawk, an aspiring fighter, to unravel the truth behind the death of two police officers.

Screenplay

Conspiracy Theory

Conspiracy Theory · 1997

Conspiracy Theory

MovieActionDrama

A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.

Writer

Finestkind

Finestkind · 2023

MovieCrimeDrama

Two brothers from opposite sides of the tracks are reunited as adults. Desperate circumstances force them into a deal with an organized crime syndicate in Boston, and a young woman gets caught in the middle.

Director

The Postman

The Postman · 1997

MovieScience FictionAdventure

In 2013, there are no highways, no I-ways, no dreams of a better tomorrow, only scattered survivors across what was once the United States. Into this apocalyptic wasteland comes an enigmatic drifter with a mule, a knack for Shakespeare, and something yet undiscovered: the power to inspire hope.

Screenplay

In 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first Black man to play in Major League Baseball facing unabashed racism from the public, the press and other players.

Director

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master · 1988

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

MovieHorrorThriller

Freddy Krueger returns once again to terrorize the dreams of the remaining Dream Warriors, as well as those of a young woman who may be able to defeat him for good.

Screenplay

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant · 2009

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

MovieAdventureFantasy

When Darren Shan is taken to a circus that's chock-full of sideshow oddities, he meets a vampire and receives a life-changing bite on the neck.

Screenplay

Assassins

Assassins · 1995

MovieActionAdventure

Assassin Robert Rath arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness a rival hired gun complete the job for him -- with grisly results. Horrified by the murder of innocent bystanders, Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life. But finding his way out of the world of contract killing grows ever more dangerous as Rath falls for his female target and becomes a marked man himself.

Screenplay

Blood Work

Blood Work · 2002

MovieThrillerCrime

Still recovering from a heart transplant, a retired FBI profiler returns to service when his own blood analysis offers clues to the identity of a serial killer.

Screenplay

The Order

The Order · 2003

MovieFantasyMystery

For centuries, a secret Order of priests has existed within the Church. A renegade priest, Father Alex Bernier, is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of one of the Order's most revered members. Following a series of strangely similar killings, Bernier launches an investigation that forces him to confront unimaginable evil.

Director

Highway to Hell

Highway to Hell · 1991

Highway to Hell

MovieFantasyAction

Charlie and Rachel run away from home to get married in Las Vegas. But they get attacked by a zombie who takes Rachel with him to hell, where she will become one of Satan's brides.

Writer

976-EVIL

976-EVIL · 1988

A bullied unpopular high school student named Hoax finds an ad for 976-EVIL, a number that provides daily 'horrorscopes'. But when he calls the number he gains demonic powers, which he uses to seek vengeance against those who bullied him.

Writer

976-EVIL II

976-EVIL II · 1992

After being bestowed with demonic powers following a phone call to Hell, a psychotic teacher begins a rampage of death and destruction in a small town, forcing a teen and her boyfriend to fight him off so that they can get away.

Characters

Tales from the Crypt

Tales from the Crypt · 1989

Tales from the Crypt

SeriesComedyMystery

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

Director