| Andrew Adamson | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 1, 1966
Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Film Producer, Film Director and Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1990 - Present |
Andrew Ralph Adamson MNZM (born December 1, 1966) is a New Zealand film director, producer and screenwriter based mainly in Los Angeles, California, U.S., where he made the blockbuster animation films, Shrek and Shrek 2 for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He was director, executive producer, and scriptwriter for C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Shooting took place in New Zealand, primarily in and around Auckland, but also in South Island where much of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed. He also worked on the movies Batman Forever and Batman & Robin as a visual effects supervisor.
He was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
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Adamson's parents were a homemaker and a computer engineer. Born in New Zealand, Adamson moved to Papua New Guinea with his parents aged eleven, and he returned to Auckland aged eighteen. When twenty-four, he moved to San Francisco, and divided time between there and Los Angeles. Since making the Narnia films, he has settled back in New Zealand. Adamson has two daughters.[1]
Adamson wanted to be an architect,but missed a university enrollment deadline because of a car accident.[2] Andrew Adamson was recruited by Pacific Data Images to go to work in the USA. The company opened an office in the California city of Los Angeles. There he served as a technical director in the following movies: Toys (1992), starring Robin Williams, and Angels in the Outfield (1994), starring Danny Glover. Previously Andrew specialised in commercials but preferred the idea of telling a story in longer format. Andrew served as visual effects supervisor in the 1995 film Batman Forever, A Time to Kill (1996), and Batman & Robin (1997).
Adamson directed Shrek (the first in the series) with a moderate budget of US$60 million in 2001. However the film became a worldwide success taking in nearly $500 million in the box office. The film grossed US$42,347,760 in the opening week-end. It grossed US$267,665,011 in USA and Canada and foreign totals of US$216,744,207 for a worldwide total of US$484,409,218. The film featured famous Hollywood actors such as Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz.
The next film in the series Shrek 2 (2004) had a big Hollywood budget of around US$150 million and was even a bigger success than the first film taking in more than $900 million worldwide. The film opened at US$108,037,878, one of the highest openings ever. In the USA and Canada the film went on to gross US$441,226,247 and a foreign total off US$478,612,511 for a worldwide total of US$919,838,758. The film is currently the ninth top grossing worldwide film ever according to website box office tracker Box Office Mojo
Adamson not only directed this film but also wrote the story. However, he did not direct the next film in the series, Shrek The Third, because he had been contracted by Walden Media to work on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Instead the film was co-directed by Chris Miller and Raman Hui while Adamson served as executive producer. The script of the film was written by J. David Stem and Joe Stillman. The third film was still very successful taking in more than $795 million worldwide with a budget of no more than US$ 160 million.
Adamson achieved commercial success and gained worldwide attention when he co-produced, co-wrote and directed The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The film is based on the book by C.S. Lewis of the same name and won various awards, gained critical praise and was a box office success becoming the third highest grossing film worldwide of 2005 according to Box Office Mojo. The film opened in the US and Canada with totals of higher than US$65million and the film ended up with a worldwide gross of US$744,783,957 with a budget of US$180million according to Box Office Mojo.[3]
He returned as director to the next Narnia film: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian which had a worldwide release in May 2008 and grossed over $419 million at the box office. Adamson will also return as producer of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader scheduled for release in Australia on December 9th, 2010, and in the United States and UK on December 10th of the same year. At the moment though, 20th Century Fox and Walden Media still hold the rights to the series, and they currently retain the option to make The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair in the future. And as of now, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair is speculated to be released in 2011, though there have been no official reports of pre-production as of yet.
Adamson has directed films which have won the following Major Film Awards (film order by date of release); Reference from IMDB
| Year | Title | Notes | Worldwide Gross | Starring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Shrek | As Director, voice of Duloc Mascot, Songwriter: Merry Men | $484,409,218 | Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow |
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | As Director, co-writer, voice of Capitan of the Guards, Songwriter: Fairy Godmother Song | $919,838,758 | Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Jennifer Saunders |
| 2005 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | As director, co-writer | $744,783,957 | William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy and Liam Neeson (voice) |
| 2007 | Shrek the Third | As executive producer, additional screenplay material & story | $797,641,069 | Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Eric Idle, Justin Timberlake |
| 2008 | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | As director, screenplay, producer | $420,100,000 | William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes, Sergio Castellitto and Liam Neeson (voice) |
| 2010 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | As producer | NA | Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes and Liam Neeson (voice) |
| 2010 | Shrek Forever After | As Executive Producer | NA | Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas and Justin Timberlake (voice) |
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  | The Weight of Story - The Weight of Story | Christianity Today Movies |
| | Adamson Gets Animated About Narnia and VFX In 1991 - ..... >> VFXWorld / Feature Articles << ..... |
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