Gregory Widen

Gregory Widen is an American screenwriter and film director. He is the creator of the Highlander film and television franchise, and the writer-director of the cult horror film The Prophecy.

Early life and education A native of Laguna Beach, California, Gregory Widen holds a master's degree from UCLA and once worked full-time as a city firefighter.

Career Highlander While still an undergrad film student at UCLA, he sold his script for Highlander (1986). The original movie became a cult classic, spawning five sequels and Highlander: The Series, tie-in novels and video games.

Backdraft Widen worked as a firefighter for three years while still an undergraduate at UCLA. He witnessed a person being killed by an explosive backdraft, which became the basis for the screenplay he wrote for the movie Backdraft, directed by Ron Howard and starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro. Released in 1991, Backdraft received three Academy Award nominations.

Backdraft was turned into a ride for Universal Studios Hollywood (opened 1992, closed 2010) and Universal Studios Japan (opened 2001, final show in 2020, permanently closed in 2023).

A sequel (Backdraft 2) began production in April 2018.

The Prophecy In 1995, Widen wrote and directed the supernatural thriller The Prophecy starring Christopher Walken, Virginia Madsen, Eric Stoltz, and Viggo Mortensen. The film spawned four sequels: The Prophecy II (1998), The Ascent (2000), Uprising (2005) and Forsaken (2005).

Television Widen was the creator, writer and executive producer of the series Rescue 77 and wrote for Tales from the Crypt.

Novel In 2013 he released his debut novel, Blood Makes Noise published by Thomas & Mercer. The book received critical praise, including a starred review from Publishers Weekly and Booklist.

Filmography Film

Direct-to-video

Television