Frank Darabont facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Frank Darabont
Darabont at the 2011 PaleyFest
Born	Ferenc Árpád Darabont (1959-01-28) January 28, 1959 (age 66) Montbéliard, France
Other names	Frank A. Darabont Ardeth Bey
Citizenship	United States
Education	Hollywood High School
Occupation	Screenwriter director producer
Years active	1981–present
Spouse(s)	Sara Rae Darabont

Frank Árpád Darabont (born Ferenc Árpád Darabont on January 28, 1959) is a famous American screenwriter, director, and producer. He was born in France.

Frank Darabont is known for making movies based on stories by author Stephen King. Some of his most famous films include The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), and The Mist (2007). He also helped create the popular TV show The Walking Dead.

He has been nominated for several important awards, like the Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars) and the Golden Globe Award.

Frank Darabont's Early Life

Frank Darabont was born in a refugee camp in Montbéliard, France, in 1959. His parents had left Hungary after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. They brought his five brothers, four sisters, and three cousins with them.

When Frank was a baby, his family moved to the United States. They first lived in Chicago and then moved to Los Angeles when he was five years old.

How He Got Started in Film

Frank Darabont was inspired to work in movies after seeing the film THX 1138 by George Lucas. He finished Hollywood High School in 1977 but did not go to college.

His first job was at the famous Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. He worked at the snack stand and as an usher. He was happy because he could watch many movies for free. He says he learned to write by spending "endless hours" writing stories on a typewriter.

Frank Darabont's Career in Film

Early Movies and TV Shows

Frank Darabont started in filmmaking as a production assistant. This means he helped with many different tasks on movie sets. He worked on films like Hell Night and Trancers.

His first film as a writer and director was a short movie. It was based on Stephen King's story "The Woman in the Room". This short film was considered for an Academy Award in 1983. Even though Darabont was not fully happy with it, this film helped him become friends with Stephen King. King later gave him the rights to adapt another story, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

Becoming a Screenwriter

In 1986, Darabont sold his first movie script, called Black Cat Run. It was made into a TV movie much later. He then teamed up with Chuck Russell to write scripts.

They worked together to rewrite the script for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. They had only two weeks but finished in ten days. This movie was very successful. Because of this success, they were able to make their first planned script, The Blob. Darabont also wrote scripts for The Fly II and an early version of The Rocketeer.

Directing for Television

Frank Darabont directed his first TV movie, Buried Alive, in 1990. He also wrote several episodes for George Lucas's TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He wrote two episodes for the TV show Tales from the Crypt.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Frank Darabont used his deal with Stephen King to write and direct The Shawshank Redemption. Another director, Rob Reiner, offered Darabont a lot of money to direct it. Reiner wanted to cast Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford in the main roles. Darabont thought about it but decided to direct the film himself. He felt it was his chance to make "something really great."

The movie did not make much money at first. However, audiences and critics loved it. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Frank Darabont was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. After the Oscar nominations, more people watched it. It became the most rented movie of 1995. Today, many people consider it one of the greatest films ever made.

The Green Mile (1999)

Darabont's next movie as a director was another Stephen King story, The Green Mile. He also wrote the script for it. Tom Hanks starred in the movie. Darabont was not sure about making this film at first. He thought it was too similar to Shawshank. But he changed his mind after reading the book.

Tom Hanks and Frank Darabont wanted to work together. Stephen King had imagined Hanks in the main role. The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture. Darabont was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay again. The Green Mile was the highest-grossing film based on a Stephen King novel for a long time. It made over $286 million worldwide.

The Majestic (2001)

In 2001, Darabont directed The Majestic. It starred Jim Carrey, Martin Landau, and Laurie Holden. He often worked with these actors. His high school friend, Michael Sloane, wrote the script. This was one of the few films Darabont directed but did not write. He wanted to direct it as a "love letter" to movies he loved. The film received mixed reviews and did not make much money.

The Mist (2007)

Frank Darabont had wanted to direct The Mist even before The Shawshank Redemption. But he kept delaying it. He finally started writing the script in 2004. Many of the people who worked on the film also worked on the TV series The Shield. Darabont hired them to give the movie a "fluid, ragged documentary" style.

Darabont also helped design the creatures in the film. He worked with artists like Jordu Schell and Bernie Wrightson. The special effects were done by CafeFX. Darabont asked director Guillermo del Toro who did the effects for his film Pan's Labyrinth.

The movie did well at the box office and got good reviews. Stephen King liked Darabont's new ending. He said, "The ending is such a jolt—wham! It's frightening." A special black-and-white version of the DVD was released. This was how Darabont had always wanted the film to look.

The Walking Dead (2010–2011)

Frank Darabont and Drew Struzan signing a poster for The Walking Dead in 2010

Frank Darabont helped create and produce the first season of The Walking Dead. This was an AMC series based on Robert Kirkman's comic book. Darabont found the comic book in 2005. Kirkman was very happy that Darabont was interested. He said Darabont "definitely cares about the original source material."

Darabont first tried to make a deal with NBC for The Walking Dead, but they said no. He then took it to AMC, who decided to make the series. Darabont wrote and directed the first episode, called "Days Gone Bye". He was also an executive producer. Many actors he had worked with before, like Jeffrey DeMunn and Laurie Holden, were in the show. The series received positive reviews. The first episode had 5.3 million viewers, making it AMC's most-watched series premiere.

In July 2011, Darabont left his role as showrunner. Reports said he found it hard to keep up with the TV show's schedule. It was later confirmed that he left because AMC wanted to lower the show's budget. He also had disagreements with AMC executives. In 2016, Darabont and his agents filed a lawsuit against AMC. They were seeking unpaid profits. By July 2021, AMC settled the lawsuit. They agreed to pay $200 million and future royalty payments.

Mob City (2013)

After leaving The Walking Dead, Darabont made a deal with TNT. He developed a new series called L.A. Noir, based on a book by John Buntin. Darabont found the book at an airport and decided to adapt it for TV. He was very excited about the project because he always wanted to make a film noir (a type of crime film).

Darabont cast Jon Bernthal, who he had worked with on The Walking Dead, in the main role. Other actors he often worked with, like Jeffrey DeMunn, were also in the series. The show was given six episodes and its title was changed to Mob City. It premiered in December 2013 and received mixed to positive reviews. The series was canceled after one season.

Other Projects and Contributions

Frank Darabont also had the rights to two other Stephen King stories: The Long Walk and The Monkey.

He worked as a "script doctor" for films like Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan and Minority Report. A script doctor helps improve movie scripts. In 2002, he wrote an early version of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Spielberg liked it, but George Lucas did not use it. He also produced the 2002 film The Salton Sea.

Darabont has worked again with his old writing partner, Chuck Russell. He rewrote parts of Russell's film Eraser. They also tried to make a movie about the 1930s character Doc Savage. They were executive producers on the film Collateral.

He has also tried to make movies based on the novels Mine by Robert R. McCammon and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Darabont still hopes to make both films someday.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)

In the same year Shawshank was released, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein also came out. Darabont wrote the script for this film. He called it the worst experience of his writing career. He felt it was his best script, but that director Kenneth Branagh ruined it. He said, "you can't really judge the script based on what you saw on the screen." Guillermo del Toro has shown interest in using Darabont's script for his own version of Frankenstein. He called Darabont's script "near perfect."

Recent Work

In 2004, Tom Cruise hired Darabont to write Mission: Impossible III. However, the script was later rewritten by J. J. Abrams. Darabont also wrote the introduction for the Hellboy novel, Hellboy: Odder Jobs.

In 2005, a limited edition of Darabont's short story Walpuski's Typewriter was published. He wrote this story when he was in his early twenties.

In 2007, Darabont directed an episode of The Shield called "Chasing Ghosts." He also directed the first episode of Raines, starring Jeff Goldblum.

Darabont appeared as himself in two episodes of the TV series Entourage in 2008 and 2009.

He was supposed to direct the 2009 film Law Abiding Citizen. But he left the project because of disagreements with the producers.

At the 2012 Austin Film Festival, Darabont received an award. It was for his amazing contributions to filmmaking.

In 2013, he lent his voice to a longer version of the World War Z audio book. In November of that year, it was revealed that Darabont was developing a ten-part TV series based on his 2007 film The Mist.

Darabont was hired to rewrite the script for the 2014 Godzilla reboot. He wanted to make Godzilla a "terrifying force of nature" again. The film's director, Gareth Edwards, said Darabont wrote the most emotional scene in the movie. This scene helped convince actors like Bryan Cranston to join the film.

In June 2014, Darabont was considered to direct The Huntsman: Winter's War. This was a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman. A month later, it was confirmed he would direct it. However, he left the project in January 2015 due to creative differences.

In a 2021 interview, Darabont shared that he had written a script for a film about the American Civil War. It was based on an old script by Stanley Kubrick. Darabont believes it is the best script he has ever written. He was sad that the film could not find funding.

In 2024, it was announced that Darabont would direct two episodes of the fifth and final season of the popular Netflix series Stranger Things. This marks his return to directing TV shows since Mob City.

Frank Darabont's Filmography

Movies

Television Shows

Awards and Nominations

Frank Darabont has received many awards and nominations for his work.

• For The Shawshank Redemption (1994), he won the Humanitas Prize for Best Film and the USC Scripter Award. He was also nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award and a Writers Guild of America Award.
• For The Green Mile (1999), he won the Saturn Award for Best Action or Adventure Film and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay. He was also nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award.
• For The Walking Dead (2010–2011), he won an American Film Institute Award for TV Programme of the Year. He was also nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award.

See also

In Spanish: Frank Darabont para niños