Joe Dante

Joe Dante (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director. His films—notably Gremlins alongside its sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with 1960s radicalism and cartoon comedy.

Dante's output includes the films Piranha (1978), The Howling (1981), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The 'Burbs (1989), Matinee (1993), Small Soldiers (1998), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). His work for television and cable include the social satire The Second Civil War (1997), episodes of the anthology series Masters of Horror ("Homecoming" and "The Screwfly Solution") and Amazing Stories, as well as Police Squad! and Hawaii Five-0.

Early life Dante was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Livingston. His father was an Italian-American professional golfer who encouraged him to play sports; however, Dante was more interested in drawing cartoons and frequenting Saturday matinees at the cinema. Dante was 12 when Famous Monsters of Filmland, a magazine dedicated to horror films, came onto news shelves. He soon wrote to the magazine with reviews of certain horror films, which he did for a number of years.

Dante had originally planned on becoming a cartoonist, but was told that it wasn't a real art form and that he should try something else.

"I was told that cartooning isn't an art form and if I was smart I would take something else. So I took film. This was back in the days when everything was black and white, 16mm, silent – we were essentially making underground art films, so I can't say my filmmaking acumen derived from my teachings at the Philadelphia College of Art. Almost all of it came from the school of Roger Corman" Other established directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Peter Bogdanovich had already emerged from Corman's de-facto film school. . Although producer Jon Davison reported the budget was approximately $50,000, it was the cheapest made by New World Pictures. The filmmakers achieved this by coming up with a story about a B movie studio which could incorporate footage from other movies that Corman owned. The film won the attention of Steven Spielberg who, unbeknownst to Dante, prevented Universal from blocking the film's release, convincing them that Piranha was a parody and that it wasn't in competition with Jaws 2.

1980s Dante again collaborated with John Sayles when he enlisted him to rewrite the previously adapted draft of Gary Brandner's werewolf tale The Howling. Sayles rewrote the script with the same self-aware, satirical tone that he gave Piranha, and his finished script bears only a slight resemblance to Brandner's novel. Dante said that at the time he made The Howling, werewolves were considered by many to be "corny and old hat". His approach was to disguise it as long as possible and make it look like a slasher film — which was a lot more popular at the time — "and then bring in the supernatural elements slowly so that the audience could get acclimated and not immediately reject it as something old-fashioned." The film's special effects, which at the time were considered state-of-the-art, were completed by Rob Bottin after Rick Baker left to work on An American Werewolf in London.

Dante had been previously offered the chance to direct Airplane! by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Although he turned it down, Dante agreed to direct two episodes of their police procedural spoof Police Squad!, which was his first experience shooting something on a studio lot.

Due to their work on The Howling, Dante and producer Michael Finnell received the opportunity to make the film Gremlins by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg also brought Dante on as one of the directors on John Landis' Twilight Zone: The Movie. features cartoon-style special effects, revolving around a woman played by Kathleen Quinlan who is 'adopted' by an omnipotent boy. Dante also took over editing duties on George Miller's segment of the film, after he left the project feeling repulsed by the news of the fatal helicopter accident. Chris Columbus' original draft of Gremlins went through several rewrites before a shooting script was finalized. According to Dante, it was a gruelling shoot ("The whole thing was so exhausting") and once the design of the gremlins were finalized, the studio's reaction was divisive. "I'd never seen a reaction like that," Dante said of the film's first preview. "They thought it was the greatest thing ever and Warner Brothers was I think shocked, frankly, by how popular the picture became."

After the success of Gremlins, Dante took on the offer to direct Explorers, about a group of friends who build a working spacecraft and encounter extraterrestrial life. Dante liked the script, but felt the film needed a better third act. After being denied extra time by Paramount executives, Dante and the film's writer, Eric Luke, then improvised the story whilst filming commenced. In the spring of 1985, Paramount changed the film's initial release date from late August to early July, telling Dante and the editors to stop editing and deliver a shorter rough cut. As a result, about an hour and a half worth of footage was left on the editing room floor. Explorers marked the film debuts of both Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, and has only grown in its reputation over time, developing a cult following. Dante reflected on the film by saying that he is appreciative of the warm reception it has earned over the years, but continued by saying "the problem is for me is that the movie you'll see is not the movie I wanted to make. It's the movie I got to make up to a certain point and then had to stop. It's hard for me to look at it, cause it's not the film I quite had in mind." The missing and cut scenes are presumably lost, as Dante tried searching for them in recent years.

In the mid-1980s, Dante was offered the script of Innerspace written by Chip Proser, who called it "a rip off of Fantastic Voyage". Dante initially turned the film down until the script was later rewritten as a comedy by Jeffrey Boam. Dante said he had a "wonderful experience" making Innerspace, mainly because of the cast which included actors Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, and Meg Ryan among others. However, after one particular day of filming, Dante recalled that studio executives from Warner Brothers had invited him out to lunch and told him that what he was doing was not funny and described Short as being "not very attractive", wanting to recast the role. While this conversation left him with a lot of anxiety, Dante decided to "plow on" and just make the movie he always intended to make. Despite successful test screenings, the film ended up flopping at the box office in the summer of 1987. Dante said this was because the studio did not know how to promote it and that the original poster failed to include the movie's actors on it.

In 1988, Dante agreed to direct the black comedy The 'Burbs, intrigued by its premise and the blending of real-life situations with elements of the supernatural. Dante and producers Larry Brezner and Michael Finnell agreed that Tom Hanks would be the most suitable actor to portray the married Ray Peterson, a suburban homeowner who tries to introduce excitement into his life by investigating the activities of his mysterious neighbors. Dante referred to Hanks as "the reigning everyman, a guy that everybody can identify with", comparing him to James Stewart. Production on The 'Burbs was filmed in chronological order (due to the 1988 writer's strike

1990s Dante was asked many times to helm a sequel to Gremlins, due to its financial success. Dante declined, because he saw that story as having a proper ending, and thus a sequel would only be meant to be profitable. The studio decided to proceed without him, approaching various directors and writers. Storylines considered included sending the gremlins to Las Vegas or even into outer space. After those ideas fell through, the studio returned to Dante, who agreed to make the sequel after receiving the rare promise of having complete creative control over the movie as well as a budget tripling that of the original film. Since Chris Columbus was not available to write the sequel's script at the time, Dante brought on screenwriter Charles S. Haas to help plot the film. Dante later claimed it was the film into which he had put the most of his personal influence. He referred to it as "one of the more unconventional studio pictures ever," imagining it as a satire of Gremlins and sequels in general, resulting in a film with several meta-references and self-referential humor. Both Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates returned to star in the film. It also features several guest stars, including Christopher Lee as a mad scientist. The film was released to theaters in the Summer of 1990 but did not perform as well at the box office as the original.

Charles S. Haas wrote two more films for Dante; one an unproduced script about Chuck Jones' early years at Termite Terrace and the other, Matinee about the Cuban Missile Crisis. In it, John Goodman stars as William Castle-type filmmaker Lawrence Woolsey, who specializes in horror and sci-fi B movies. Originally written by Jerico Stone, Dante said his draft was "quite different than the film that eventually emerged." The film opened in early 1993 and received positive reviews, but failed to turn a profit.

From 1993 to 1994, Dante was attached as the director of The Phantom, developing a draft of the script together with Jeffrey Boam, which was originally tongue-in-cheek in tone. According to Dante, right when the film was to begin shooting, Paramount pulled the plug on the film over its budget. Later, it was put back into production, with the script rewritten under a new director who made it serious, despite the script's humorous tone. Dante also claimed there were 12 uncredited writers who did work on the film over the course of five years. The project was developed several other times before eventually being offered to Dante. He agreed to direct the film to pay tribute to his idol Chuck Jones, and as somewhat of a placeholder for his unmade biographical comedy Termite Terrace. He and screenwriter Larry Doyle reportedly wanted the film to be the "anti-Space Jam" as Dante disliked how that film represented the Looney Tunes brand and personalities. While feeling that he and the film's animation director Eric Goldberg had managed to preserve the original personalities of the characters, the film's opening, middle and ending are different from what Dante initially envisioned. Dante stated that he had no creative freedom on the project, calling the experience "the longest year and a half of my life."

Following his experience working on Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Dante took a brief hiatus from movies, instead returning to television, directing two episodes of the horror anthology series Masters of Horror.

In 2007, Dante launched the web series Trailers from Hell, which provides commentary by directors, producers and screenwriters on trailers for classic and cult movies. Dante also actively contributes to the website.

Dante returned to feature films several years later in 2009 with the independent 3D horror comedy The Hole, which received the Premio Persol award at the Venice Film Festival. Dante cited Dial M for Murder, Kill, Baby, Kill, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Killer Klowns from Outer Space as influences on the film.

With Roger Corman producing, Dante directed the interactive web series Splatter for Netflix. The series stars Corey Feldman as a rock star seeking revenge on those he thinks have wronged him.

2010s From 2011 to 2017, Dante directed ten episodes of Hawaii Five-0 reboot, which he joked was "to get the rent paid."

Subsequently, Dante directed Anton Yelchin and Ashley Greene in Burying the Ex, adapted from Alan Trezza's 2008 short film. Principal photography ran through November–December 2013. The film follows a horror film buff whose controlling girlfriend suddenly dies in a freak accident but when he tries to move on with his life along with his new partner, he discovers that his ex has come back from the dead in the form of a zombie. It was selected to be screened out of competition at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and was released theatrically in 2015.

Dante served as executive producer on the independent feature length thriller Dark, starring Whitney Able and Alexandra Breckenridge, directed by Nick Basile. The film, set in New York City during the 2003 blackout, was released by Screen Media Films on June 7, 2016.

For years, Dante has tried to make a film about his mentor Corman and the making of his 1967 film The Trip, but has struggled to gather funding for it. Titled The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes, the film went through several permutations over the years, including one starring Colin Firth as Corman. The film spent several years stuck in the development stage at SpectreVision. In October 2016, Dante directed a live table-reading of the film's script at the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles, which starred Bill Hader as Corman, Jason Ritter as Peter Fonda and Ethan Embry as Jack Nicholson. Subsequently, a 2017 shoot was planned. A cameo role featuring Corman was reportedly shot in case he died before production began. Despite this, plans for a film were effectively shelved following the passing of Corman. In 2022, the film's script was adapted and published in the form of a graphic novel.

Dante directed a segment of the 2018 horror anthology film Nightmare Cinema starring Mickey Rourke, which also featured shorts directed by Alejandro Brugués, Mick Garris, Ryūhei Kitamura, and David Slade. The same month of its release, Dante launched his own weekly podcast The Movies That Made Me, with screenwriter Josh Olson as his co-host, where filmmakers and entertainers are brought on to discuss the movies that inspired them.

2020s

In 2020, Dante served as a consultant on the HBO Max prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.

In 2024, it was announced that Dante would direct Little Shop of Halloween Horrors, a reboot of Roger Corman's The Little Shop of Horrors, to be produced by Corman alongside Brad Krevoy, CEO of the Motion Picture Corporation of America, and written by Charles S. Haas. The following year, Dante updated that, like many of his past projects, the film had too been shelved.

Influences Dante has cited Roger Corman, Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, Ernst Lubitsch, Mario Bava, James Whale and Jean Cocteau among his major influences. He also loves the 1941 comedy Hellzapoppin', a film from which he frequently steals gags.

Archive The moving image collection of Joe Dante and Jon Davison is held at the Academy Film Archive. The joint collection includes feature films, pre-production elements, and theatrical trailer reels.

Awards Dante was the first recipient of the Vincent Price Award , presented by Vincent's daughter Victoria Price, as part of Hollywood Horrorfest at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles on March 28 2014. Created by festival founder Miles Flanagan and Victoria Price, the award “celebrates Vincent Price’s unique artistic and iconic legacy by honoring an artist whose work has achieved equally iconic status in the horror/fantasy genres.” The event fundraised for the Vincent Price Art Museum.

Later recipients include Cassandra Peterson, Sid Haig, John Landis and Rick Baker.

Unrealized projects

Lovekill, a horror film co-written with Paul Bartel and Mike Wakely A film adaptation of James Tiptree Jr.'s short story "The Screwfly Solution" Jaws: 3, People: 0, an early attempt of another Jaws sequel pitched as a spoof

Something Wicked This Way Comes Halloween III: Season of the Witch Meltdown, a film written by Charles H. Eglee The Philadelphia Experiment Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers The Batman, a film based on the eponymous character written by Tom Mankiewicz starring John Lithgow as the Joker The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 2, a proposed sequel to the 1966 film A remake of the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon A film adaptation of the trading card series Dinosaurs Attack! written by Charles S. Haas Little Man Tate A film adaptation of Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels written by Terry Jones

Jurassic Park Termite Terrace, a biopic about Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones written by Charles S. Haas The Brink, a thriller written by Nicholas Seldon and Robert Skotak set in the world of virtual reality An early attempt of The Mummy remake written by John Sayles set in contemporary times My Favorite Martian starring Martin Short A live-action film adaptation of the cartoon series The Jetsons Intolerable Cruelty starring Jeremy Irons and Heather Locklear Sacred Estates, a black comedy written by David Dean Bottrell A remake of the 1946 film noir Crack-Up The Sixth Day

Godzilla Reborn, a sequel to Godzilla 2000 written by Michael Schlesinger Mindhunters The Wylde Bunch, a TV series written by John Sayles about a fictional 1970s low-budget film producer A film adaptation of John Brunner's novel The Sheep Look Up Bat Out of Hell, an indie horror film written by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan about airplane hijackers who confront monstrous cargo

Ombra Amore, retitled from Monster Love, a horror-comedy written by Greg Pak about a werewolf and a vampire who fall in love Fear Paris, retitled from Paris, I'll Kill You, a horror anthology film with segments directed by Dante, Xavier Gens and Timo Vuorensola Hart's Location, an independent drama written by Ashley Reed starring Bruce Dern, Laura Dern and Diane Ladd O2, a sci-fi thriller written by Ronnie Christensen Air Disturbance, a horror thriller written by Jeremy Sklar starring Robert Englund and Dylan Walsh A film adaptation of M. R. James' short story "Casting the Runes" starring Simon Pegg Labirintus, a supernatural thriller written by Alan Campbell starring Mark Webber, Rachel Hurd-Wood and Lorànt Deutsch

Little Shop of Halloween Horrors, a reboot of The Little Shop of Horrors written by Charles S. Haas Airplane! (1980),

Filmography Film

Executive producer The Phantom (1996) Trail of Blood (2011) Dark (2015) Trafficked (2017) Camp Cold Brook (2018)

Television

Miscellaneous

Cameo and documentary appearances