31 Facts About Robert Zemeckis

1.

Robert Lee Zemeckis was born on May 14,1952 and is an American filmmaker.

2.

Robert Zemeckis subsequently directed the satirical black comedy Death Becomes Her and then diversified into more dramatic fare, including Forrest Gump, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director.

3.

Robert Zemeckis has directed films across a wide variety of genres, for both adults and families.

4.

Robert Zemeckis is known for his collaboration with composer Alan Silvestri, with whom he has worked on many of his films.

5.

Robert Lee Zemeckis was born on May 14,1952, in Chicago the son of Rosa and Alphonse Zemeckis.

6.

Robert Zemeckis's father was Lithuanian-American while his mother was Italian-American.

7.

Robert Zemeckis attended a Catholic grade school and Fenger Academy High School.

8.

Robert Zemeckis first attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and gained early experience in film as a film cutter for NBC News in Chicago during a summer break.

9.

Robert Zemeckis applied to transfer from NIU to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California and went into the Film School on the strength of an essay and a music video based on a Beatles song.

10.

Not having heard from the university itself, Robert Zemeckis called and was told he had been rejected because of his average grades.

11.

Robert Zemeckis gave an "impassioned plea" to the official on the other line, promising to go to summer school and improve his studies, and eventually convinced the school to accept him.

12.

Robert Zemeckis remembered not being much fazed by this, citing the "healthy cynicism" that had been bred into him from his Chicago upbringing.

13.

At USC Robert Zemeckis met a fellow student, writer Bob Gale.

14.

In 1992, Robert Zemeckis directed the black comedy Death Becomes Her, starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis.

15.

In 1997, Robert Zemeckis directed Contact, a long-gestating project based on Carl Sagan's 1985 novel of the same name.

16.

In 1996, Robert Zemeckis had begun developing a project titled The Castaway with Tom Hanks and writer William Broyles Jr.

17.

Robert Zemeckis shot the first part of Cast Away in early 1999, and shot What Lies Beneath in fall 1999, completing work on Cast Away in early 2000.

18.

In 2004, Robert Zemeckis reteamed with Hanks and directed The Polar Express, based on the children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg.

19.

The company, ImageMovers Digital, created films using the performance capture technology, with Robert Zemeckis directing most of the projects which Disney distributed and marketed worldwide.

20.

Robert Zemeckis used the performance capture technology again in his film, Beowulf, to retell the Anglo-Saxon epic poem of the same name.

21.

In July 2007, Variety announced that Robert Zemeckis had written a screenplay for A Christmas Carol, based on Charles Dickens' 1843 short story of the same name, with plans to use performance capture and release it under the aegis of ImageMovers Digital.

22.

Robert Zemeckis wrote the script with Jim Carrey in mind, and Carrey agreed to play a multitude of roles in the film, including Ebenezer Scrooge as a young, middle-aged, and old man, and the three ghosts who haunt Scrooge.

23.

Robert Zemeckis is an avid supporter of 3-D Digital Cinema and has stated that since the 3-D presentations of Beowulf, all of his future films would be done in 3-D using digital motion capture.

24.

Robert Zemeckis has reportedly backed away from that statement and said that the decision to use 3-D will be on a film-by-film basis.

25.

The studio's final film, 2011's Robert Zemeckis-produced Mars Needs Moms, was the second-worst box office failure in history, with a net loss of roughly $130 million.

26.

Robert Zemeckis made his return to live-action filmmaking with Flight, a 2012 drama for Paramount, starring Denzel Washington.

27.

On October 18,2019, it was announced that Robert Zemeckis is in talks to direct Disney's live-action adaptation of Pinocchio.

28.

Robert Zemeckis was officially announced as the film's director and co-writer of the script in January 2020.

29.

On February 17,2022, Robert Zemeckis signed on to direct Here, an adaptation of the graphic novel by Richard McGuire, with Tom Hanks set to star and Forrest Gump screenwriter Eric Roth working on the screenplay with Robert Zemeckis.

30.

Robert Zemeckis has said that, for a long time, he sacrificed his personal life in favor of a career.

31.

Robert Zemeckis described the marriage as difficult to balance with filmmaking, and his relationship with Trainor eventually ended in divorce.