Matthew Reilly facts for kids

Matthew John Reilly (born 2 July 1974) is a super popular Australian writer. He writes exciting action and thriller books that are sold all over the world!

Matthew's Early Life

Matthew Reilly was born in Sydney, Australia, on July 2, 1974. He grew up with his brother Stephen in a suburb called Willoughby. His dad worked for the government, and his mom was a math teacher.

Matthew went to St Aloysius' College in Sydney. He finished school there in 1992. After that, he studied Law at the University of New South Wales from 1993 to 1997. He did really well in his studies!

Becoming a Bestselling Author

Matthew Reilly wrote his very first book, Contest, when he was only 19 years old. He tried to get it published, but no big publishers in Australia wanted it. So, he decided to publish it himself! He borrowed money from a bank and printed 1,000 copies in 1996.

One day, an editor from a big publishing company, Pan Macmillan, found a copy of Contest in a bookstore. She loved it! Pan Macmillan then signed Matthew to a deal for two books.

His second book was called Ice Station. He wrote it while he was still at university. This book quickly became popular in the US, UK, and Germany. Since then, Matthew has sold over 8 million copies of his books! They have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Many of Matthew's books have been huge hits in Australia. For example, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves was the top-selling fiction book in Australia in 2011. Other bestsellers include Seven Ancient Wonders (2005), The Five Greatest Warriors (2009), and The Tournament (2013). Some people say his stories are full of amazing action, even if they are sometimes a bit hard to believe!

From Books to Movies

In 2007, Matthew Reilly wrote a TV script called Literary Superstars. A famous TV producer, Darren Star, liked it. Sony Pictures bought the script for the ABC Network. A well-known actress, Jenna Elfman, was going to star in it. However, a big writers' strike in Hollywood stopped the project.

Later, in 2015, Matthew's book Ice Station was turned into an audio drama. This was the first time his work was adapted into something other than a book!

Matthew always dreamed of directing a movie. In 2017, he started writing a story that could be filmed without a huge budget. This story became the movie Interceptor. It's about a female US Army captain who has to stop nuclear missiles.

Matthew worked with a screenwriter named Stuart Beattie. Stuart helped him show his work to producers in Los Angeles. Eventually, Netflix decided to fund the movie! Matthew got to direct it himself. The film was shot in Sydney in 2021. It stars Elsa Pataky as the hero and Luke Bracey as the villain. Elsa Pataky's husband, actor Chris Hemsworth, was also one of the movie's producers. Interceptor was released on Netflix in mid-2022.

Fun Facts About Matthew

In 2004, Matthew Reilly married Natalie Freer. She went to the same university as him. Matthew says Natalie encouraged him to self-publish his first book.

Matthew is a big fan of Hollywood movies. He even owns cool movie props! He has a life-size statue of Han Solo frozen in carbonite from Star Wars. He also has a golden idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark. And he owns a DeLorean car, just like the one from Back to the Future!

Matthew always hoped to direct a movie based on one of his own stories. He finally got to do this when he co-wrote and directed Interceptor.

Matthew Reilly moved to Los Angeles, California, in 2015 with Kate Freeman. They got married in April 2023.