Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. (; born 26 July 1965) is a Dutch director, writer and producer best known for directing The Thing.

Career Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. began directing at an early age with promotional trailers for Toyota, Peugeot, Renault, Stella Artois, Pepsi, and Bud Light.

In 1996, van Heijningen made his film directing debut with the Dutch short-film thriller Red Rain. In 2011, he directed The Thing, a prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing. Van Heijningen was due to direct Army of the Dead, but the project ended up being directed by Zack Snyder after lingering in development hell for a number of years.

In 2020, van Heijningen directed his second feature The Forgotten Battle, a Netflix original war film depicting the Battle of the Scheldt. Netflix's first ever original Dutch film.

Filmography Director Year TitleDirectorWriterProducer 1996 Red Rain (short film) 2011 The Thing 2020 The Forgotten Battle 2024 De Joodse Raad (miniseries)

Producer Dada (1994) Witness (1994) En Route (1994)

Other credits Year Title Role 1983 De Lift Set Decorator 1984 Ciske de Rat Assistant lighting technician 1991 Saudade Cinematographer 1992 Voor een verloren soldaat Assistant editor

Personal life He is the son of Dutch film producer Matthijs van Heijningen.

He lives in the Leidsebuurt in Amsterdam.