Joe Johnston
Joe Johnston at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Born	Joseph Eggleston Johnston II (1950-05-13) May 13, 1950 (age 62) Austin, Texas
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1977–present

Joseph Eggleston "Joe" Johnston II^[1] (born May 13, 1950)^[1] is an American film director and former effects artist best known for such effects-driven movies as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji and Jurassic Park III, also known for period films such as The Rocketeer, October Sky, The Wolfman, and Captain America: The First Avenger.

Life and career[link]

Johnston was born in Austin, Texas,^[2] and attended California State University, Long Beach,^{[citation needed]} as well as the Art Center College of Design.^{[citation needed]} He began his career as a concept artist and effects technician on the first Star Wars film, directed by George Lucas. His association with Lucas would later prove fruitful, as he won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on Lucas and Steven Spielberg's film Raiders of the Lost Ark.^[3] He continued to work on many films as an effects expert, and moved into producing with the film Willow before making his directorial debut with the hit Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

He attended USC Film School in 1984. Answered an advertisement while a student at Cal State-Long Beach, which was looking for employees. That ad was for George Lucas whom Johnston became acquainted with. He was employed a storyboard artist who would watch Lucas do his editing. Eventually, Johnston decided to leave Lucas' company and travel with the money he had saved up. But Lucas suggested that he go to USC film school (his alma mater), which Lucas would get him to the front of the line for applicants, pay for his tuition, and keep Johnston as a part time employee with his salary. Johnston said he would have been crazy not to accept the offer and immediately said yes.^[4]

Johnston followed this with the comic-book adaptation The Rocketeer (1991). The film was a commercial failure, as was his next, the animated and live-action The Pagemaster. Johnson would rebound, however, directing the family hit Jumanji, starring Robin Williams. The film overcame lukewarm reviews to gross over US$ 260 million.^{[citation needed]} Johnston would then switch gears from effects-driven action films to the more personal and critically acclaimed October Sky (1999), starring Jake Gyllenhall as a 1950s West Virginia high school student who dreams of being a rocket scientist for NASA despite his father's wishes.

Johnston entered the 2000s with the sequel Jurassic Park III. The film continued his relationship with Spielberg and made over US$ 300 million at the box office. Johnston followed this with the western Hidalgo, starring Viggo Mortensen. Johnston then took a six-year break before directing the 2010 remake of the 1941 horror classic The Wolfman, starring Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. In part for his experience with period superhero films with The Rocketeer, Johnston was selected to direct the Paramount Pictures superhero adaptation Captain America: The First Avenger, released July 22, 2011.^[5] The film stars Chris Evans as the comic-book hero and Hugo Weaving as his archenemy the Red Skull. The film is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe group of films that also features Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk.

Johnston was at one point set to direct Hulk but dropped out in July 1997.^[6]

He is the author of the Star Wars book The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense, a fantasy novel tied to Return of the Jedi (New York: Random House, 1984; ISBN 0-394-86568-5, ISBN 0-394-96568-X).^[7]

In 2010, Johnston said he was involved in plans for a new Jurassic Park trilogy^[5] that "sends the whole franchise off in a new direction. It's not about the dinosaur park anymore."^[8]

Filmography[link]

• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) (effects illustrator and designer: miniature and optical effects unit)
• Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979) (effects illustration and design)
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (art director visual effects: miniature and optical effects unit)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (art director: visual effects, ILM)
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) (art director visual effects)
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) (art director: California)
• Howard the Duck (1986) (ultralight sequence design)
• *batteries not included (1987) (second unit director, production manager)
• Always (1989) (aerial sequence designer)
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) (director)
• The Rocketeer (1991) (director)
• The Pagemaster (1994) (director [live-action scenes])
• Jumanji (1995) (director)
• October Sky (1999) (director)
• Jurassic Park III (2001) (director)
• Hidalgo (2004) (director)
• The Wolfman (2010) (director)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) (director)
• Jurassic Park IV (2013) (director) (rumored)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Joe Johnston at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Wars Actors Database
• Joe Johnston's concept art for Battlestar Galactica
• Joe Johnston Fan Site