Matt Reeves

Matt Reeves (born April 27, 1966) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He first gained recognition for the WB drama series Felicity (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams. Reeves came to widespread attention for directing the hit monster film Cloverfield (2008), going on to helm the romantic horror film Let Me In (2010) and the critically acclaimed science fiction sequels Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). He directed the superhero film The Batman (2022), which stars Robert Pattinson as the title character.

Reeves was born on April 27, 1966, in Rockville Centre, New York, on Long Island. He moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was five, where he began making movies at age eight, directing friends and using a wind-up camera. Reeves met and befriended filmmaker J. J. Abrams when both were 13 years old and a Los Angeles public-access television cable channel, Z Channel, was airing their short films. When Reeves and Abrams were 15 or 16 years old, Steven Spielberg hired them to transfer some of his own Super 8 films to videotape.

Reeves attended the University of Southern California where he was a screenwriting student for writer Jeph Loeb. There, between 1991 and 1992, he produced an award-winning student film, Mr. Petrified Forest, which helped him acquire an agent; he also co-wrote a script that eventually became Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. After graduating, he co-wrote Cloverfield which he later directed.

Reeves made his directorial film debut with the horror anthology film Future Shock, which was released in 1994. He also directed the romantic comedy film The Pallbearer (1996), which co-starred Gwyneth Paltrow and David Schwimmer. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.

Reeves received recognition for co-creating and showrunning the WB drama series Felicity, alongside J. J. Abrams. The series ran for 84 episodes from 1998 to 2002. Reeves directed several episodes of the series, including the pilot. He helmed episodes of various other television series, including Relativity, Homicide: Life on the Street, and Gideon's Crossing, among others.

Reeves gained further success and worldwide recognition for directing the 2008 science fiction monster film Cloverfield, which Abrams produced. Reeves later served as an executive producer on 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and The Cloverfield Paradox (2018). He wrote and directed the romantic horror film Let Me In, a remake of the Swedish film Let the Right One In. The remake was released on October 1, 2010, by Overture Films.

In October 2011, Reeves signed on to direct a film based on the classic television series The Twilight Zone, but he left the project in September 2012. Reeves directed the acclaimed science fiction film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which was released to box office success in 2014. He returned to direct and write the third film in the series, War for the Planet of the Apes, which was released on July 14, 2017 to critical acclaim. In 2014, Reeves signed a three-year production deal with 20th Century Fox.

Reeves was set to produce a film adaptation of Mouse Guard, with Wes Ball signed on to direct the film. However, the project was cancelled two weeks before production was set to begin in April 2019, due to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Reeves served as executive producer on the Fox science fiction thriller series The Passage, which aired for one season. He also executive produced the Amazon Prime Video science fiction drama series Tales from the Loop. The series, based on artwork by Simon Stålenhag, premiered to positive reviews in April 2020.

In July 2020, Reeves signed an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television to develop new television programming for all of the company's platforms under his production company, 6th & Idaho. Reeves served as executive producer on the Netflix science-fiction drama series Away (2020), starring Hilary Swank.

The Batman

In February 2017, Reeves was hired to direct and produce a Batman film, titled The Batman, which would serve as part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). He took over the position from Ben Affleck, who initially planned to stay involved as producer and star before dropping out completely, with Reeves opting to retool the film to separate it completely from the DCEU and focus on a younger incarnation of the character, allowing him the opportunity to create a more personal story in line with his own vision and understanding of the character. Reeves co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig, and principal photography commenced in January 2020. Premiering in London on February 23, 2022, The Batman was released theatrically on March 4, starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman.

Upcoming projects

In March 2021, Reeves was announced as producing an English-language remake of the Russian science fiction film Sputnik, alongside Village Roadshow Pictures. In May 2021, Reeves was confirmed to be producing a new Batman animated series for HBO Max and Cartoon Network, titled Batman: Caped Crusader, along with J. J. Abrams and Bruce Timm. In February 2022, it was announced that Reeves would produce the vampire film Smile for Netflix, with William McGregor directing.

Reeves is married to Melinda Wang, a former animator. They have one son together.

Film

Television

Critical response

Accolades