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Tool Signs Feature Director Marc Forster

Tool announces the addition of award-winning director Marc Forster to its commercial roster.

Tool has announced the addition of award-winning director Marc Forster to its commercial roster. With a notably versatile range of films to his credit, Marc Forster has persistently evaded categorization, having helmed a slate of major motion pictures of varying scale and genres for studios and independents alike, starring many of the industry’s premier talent.

Acclaimed for his unique aesthetic and compelling visuals, Forster has tackled deeply emotional themes in his largely character driven films, ranging from stylish studio blockbusters to his modestly budgeted, Oscar-nominated Best Picture.

Forster most recently directed the Paramount tentpole and box office success World War Z, starring and produced by Brad Pitt. The film is based on Max Brooks’ post-apocalyptic novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. The film opened June 21, 2013, to more than $66 million dollars and has grossed more than $540 million dollars worldwide to date.

Forster’s filmmaking style was clearly evident in his first film, Everything Put Together, which he also co-wrote. This searing psychological drama was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, and at the Independent Spirit Awards that year Forster won the ‘Someone to Watch’ award and was nominated for the Best Feature under $500,000 honor.

Forster broke through in a convincing way in 2001 with Monster’s Ball, which was a critical and commercial success and received two Oscar nominations with Halle Berry winning for Best Actress. The film offered a powerful glimpse into the legacies of race, loss and redemption, as well as commanding performances by Berry, Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle and Sean Combs.

In Finding Neverland, Forster recreated turn-of-the-century London, crafting the semi-autobiographical story of the inspiring friendship between J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, and the four young boys and single mother who lived next door. Starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman and Julie Christie, Finding Neverland was one of the most celebrated films of 2004, earning Forster a DGA Best Director nomination. It was also recognized as Best Film of the Year by the National Board of Review, and received seven Academy Award® nominations, five Golden Globe® nominations, and 11 BAFTA® nominations, all including Best Picture.

Forster’s next film was 2005’s reality-bending thriller Stay, starring Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling. He followed that with the imaginative comedy Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson and Queen Latifah. Stranger Than Fiction premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival to critical and audience acclaim, and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Ferrell.

In 2007, Forster adapted the New York Times best-selling and beloved novel The Kite Runner. The film earned a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and a BAFTA bid for Film Not In The English Language.

Following The Kite Runner, Forster was asked to direct the 22nd James Bond franchise’s Quantum Of Solace. The film, starring Daniel Craig, was the first Bond film ever to be completed ahead of schedule and under budget, and became one of the highest grossing films in the franchise’s history, with a worldwide box office of more than $586 million.

Forster’s gripping indie action drama Machine Gun Preacher, released in September 2011, starring Gerard Butler, was based on the true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who becomes a crusader for refugee children in Sudan.

Born in Germany and raised in Switzerland, Forster came to the United States in 1990 to attend NYU Film School, graduating in 1993.

Source: Tool

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.