James Mangold

Early life

Mangold was born in New York City, and is the son of artists Robert Mangold and Sylvia Plimack Mangold. He was raised in New York State's Hudson River Valley. After graduating from Washingtonville High School, Mangold was accepted into and later attended the California Institute of the Arts film/video program. While there, he mentored under Alexander Mackendrick. During his third year, Mackendrick suggested that Mangold should study at CalArts School of Theater as an actor alongside his regular film studies.

Career

In 1985, Mangold secured a writer/director deal at Disney. He wrote a television movie and co-wrote the animated feature Oliver and Company. A few years later, Mangold moved to New York and applied to Columbia University's film school, where he graduated with an MFA in film. While there, he studied under Miloš Forman and developed both Heavy and Cop Land.

He has worked as a feature writer and director since 1995, when his first feature, the independent film Heavy, won the best directing prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Mangold subsequently wrote and directed Cop Land, starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta; Girl, Interrupted, which won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1999 for Angelina Jolie; Kate & Leopold, starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, for which Jackman was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor in a musical or comedy in 2001, and the 2003 thriller Identity which starred John Cusack.

In 2005, he co-wrote (with Gill Dennis) and directed Walk the Line, a film about the young life of singer-songwriter Johnny Cash and his relationship with June Carter Cash. It stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon and was released on November 18, 2005. He also served as producer under his production banner, Tree Line Film. It was nominated for five Oscars and Witherspoon won Best Actress for her performance as June Carter Cash. Mangold also appeared as an actor in The Sweetest Thing as a doctor and love interest to Christina Applegate as well as in his own Kate & Leopold playing a movie director.

In June 2011, Mangold was hired, initially just to direct the X-Men movie The Wolverine. Along with screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie, Scott Frank and Mark Bomback, Mangold also adapted the screenplay based upon Frank Miller and Chris Claremont's Japanese Wolverine saga and entered production in Japan and Australia in July 2012. He completed photography in November of the same year. On release, it was a box office success, ending up with a worldwide gross of $414,828,246 with a budget of $120 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Following the box office success and moderate critical response to the film, Mangold signed on to write the story and direct the sequel, Logan (2017). The film marked Mangold and Jackman's third collaboration together. Scott Frank was hired to return as co-screenwriter, working as a team with Mangold. The development of the film was lengthy, with Jackman citing his and Mangold's desire to do the character justice for his last time in the role. The film incorporated elements from Mark Millar's Old Man Logan run on the comics. Mangold has stated that the plot primarily focuses on character development, rather than superhero spectacle.

In March 2017, James is in negotiations with Fox to develop and direct an adaptation of Don Winslow’s upcoming novel The Force about corrupt NYPD officers. In June 2017, Fox set a release date for The Force for March 1, 2019.

Personal life

Mangold is of Jewish descent and identifies as "half-Jewish."