Jonathan Liebesman

Jonathan Liebesman is a film director born in Johannesburg, South Africa on September 15th, 1976. He studied filmmaking at the AFDA, The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance and at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

In 2002, at the age of 26, he directed his debut feature Darkness Falls. Although the film suffered from generally weak reviews, it opened at no. 1 at the US box office. The film grossed over $32.5 million at the US box office, and a further $15 million worldwide.[1] The film was nominated for Best Horror/Thriller at the Teen Choice Awards in 2003, while the film’s star, Emma Caulfield, won Face of the Future from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films that year.

Liebesman’s next project, Rings (2005), which he co-wrote with Ehren Kruger, was a 15-minute short that chronologically follows the events of the full length feature, The Ring), and serves as a prequel to The Ring Two (2005). The short offered an insightful transition between the two movies, and garnered high praise from fans of both feature length films.

The films success brought him to the attention of Michael Bay and his production company, Platinum Dunes, who hired him to direct The Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel entitled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning opened in US theatres on October 6, 2006, and proved another box office hit for Liebesman. The $16 million movie opened at No 2 at the US box office with $18.5 million. As of 31 December 2006, the film had grossed around $50 million worldwide, including over $39.5 million in the US.

Notes & Trivia

 * In 2007, Jonathan Liebesman was tapped to direct the remake of Friday the 13th, but he was replaced by Marcus Nispel, who directed the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.