James Mangold trivia: 69 amazing facts about the famous director

James Mangold is an American film and television director. He has made a lot of critically acclaimed and commercial successful films.

Who can forget Walk the Line, Logan and 3:10 to Yuma. So let’s find out some trivia and facts about the director.

1. James Mangold was born on December 16, 1963
2. He is an American film and television director, screenwriter and producer
3. He is best known for directing the films Logan (2017, for which he wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay), Cop Land (1997, which he also wrote), Girl, Interrupted (1999, co-written), Kate & Leopold (2001, co-written), Walk the Line (2005, co-written), and 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
4. Mangold directed two superhero films based on the Marvel Comics character Wolverine
5. These are The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017)
6. His writing work on Logan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
7. He also produced and directed pilots for the television series Men in Trees (2006–2008), NYC 22 (2011–2012), and Vegas (2012–2013)
8. Mangold was born in New York City in 1963
9. He is the son of artists Robert Mangold and Sylvia Plimack Mangold
10. His mother is Jewish and he describes himself as “half-Jewish”
11. He was raised in New York State’s Hudson River Valley
12. He graduated from Washingtonville High School
13. He was admitted into and later attended the California Institute of the Arts film/video program
14. While there, he mentored under Alexander Mackendrick
15. During Mangold’s third year, Mackendrick suggested that he should study at CalArts School of Theater as an actor
16. Alongside his regular film studies
17. In 1985, Mangold secured a writer/director deal at Disney
18. He wrote a television movie and co-wrote the animated feature Oliver and Company
19. A few years later, Mangold moved to New York and applied to Columbia University’s film school
20. There he graduated with an MFA in film
21. While there, he studied under Miloš Forman and developed both Heavy and Cop Land
22. He has worked as a feature writer and director since 1995
23. His first feature is the independent film Heavy
24. Heavy won the best directing prize at the Sundance Film Festival
25. Mangold subsequently wrote and directed Cop Land (1997)
26. In the film stars Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta
27. Girl, Interrupted, which won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1999 for Angelina Jolie
28. Kate & Leopold, starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman
29. For this film Jackman was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor in a musical or comedy in 2001
30. And the 2003 thriller Identity which starred John Cusack
31. In 2005, Mangold 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
32. It stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon
33. It was released on November 18, 2005
34. He also served as producer under his production banner, Tree Line Film
35. The was nominated for five Oscars
36. Witherspoon won Best Actress for her performance as June Carter Cash
37. Mangold also appeared as an actor in The Sweetest Thing as a doctor and love interest to Christina Applegate
38. As well as in his own Kate & Leopold playing a movie director
39. In 2009, Mangold was signed by Universal Pictures to direct Juliet
40. The film was based on a novel by the Danish author Anne Fortier
41. In 2011 Paramount acquired the rights of the movie with the writers Eyal Podell, Jonathon E. Stewart, Aryan Saha, Chad and Dara Creasey on board to develop the script
42. In June 2011, Mangold was hired, initially just to direct the X-Men movie The Wolverine
43. Along with screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie, Scott Frank and Mark Bomback
44. 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
45. He completed photography in November of the same year
46. On release, it was a box office success
47. Ending up with a worldwide gross of $414,828,246 with a budget of $120 million, according to Box Office Mojo
48. Following the box office success and moderate critical response to The Wolverine, Mangold signed on to write the story and direct the sequel, Logan (2017)
49. The film marked Mangold and Jackman’s third collaboration
50. Scott Frank was hired to return as co-screenwriter
51. Working as a team with Mangold and Michael Green
52. 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
53. The film incorporated elements from Mark Millar’s Old Man Logan run on the comics
54. Mangold has stated that the plot primarily focuses on character development, rather than superhero spectacle
55. Logan was a commercial success
56. It received high praise for its gritty approach on the titular character and emotional depth
57. Often called one of the greatest superhero films of all time
58. The movie also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay
59. Thus, becoming the first live-action superhero movie to be nominated for Adapted Screenplay
60. It was also Mangold’s first Oscar nomination
61. In March 2017, Mangold was in negotiations with Fox to develop and direct an adaptation of Don Winslow’s upcoming novel The Force about corrupt NYPD officers
62. In June 2017, Fox set a release date for The Force for March 1, 2019
63. Later in February 2018, it was announced that Mangold was set to direct a film about the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans
64. With Christian Bale and Matt Damon starring as Ken Miles and Caroll Shelby respectively
65. And Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller writing the script
66. In 1999, he married film producer Cathy Konrad
67. They have 2 sons
68. First child Hudson Mangold hopes to play professional baseball
69. In 2014, the couple announced that they were divorcing