Terry Rossio

Not to be confused with Terry Ross.
Terry Rossio
Rossio in 2009
Born (1960-07-02) July 2, 1960 (age 64)
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, Film Producer
Years active1989–present

Terry Rossio (born July 2, 1960) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He co-wrote the films Aladdin, The Mask of Zorro, Shrek, and all five of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. For Shrek, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and won the Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production and BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He often collaborates with fellow screenwriter Ted Elliott.

Life and career

Rossio was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan.[citation needed] After graduating from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, California, he went on to study at California State University, Fullerton where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications, with an emphasis in radio, television and film. He is the founder of Wordplay, also known as Wordplayer.com, one of the premier screenwriting sites on the Internet.

Along with his writing partner Ted Elliott, Rossio has written some of the most successful American films of the past 30 years, including Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Shrek.[1] He is the eleventh-most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of domestic box office receipts with totals at around $5.5 billion.[2] In May 1993, Rossio and Elliott were hired by TriStar Pictures to write a screenplay for Godzilla, which featured Godzilla battling a shape-shifting alien in New York. Their script was dropped by Roland Emmerich in favor of a new script of his own co–written with Dean Devlin. However, Rossio and Elliott retained a "Story By" credit.[3]

In 2015, Dodie Gold Management filed a Commissions Non-Payment Lawsuit against Rossio and sought a jury trial for "damages of more than $25,000 plus a court declaration that they are entitled to the 10% commissions and a full look at the records and accounting of Rossio and his Chamaeleon Productions."[4] In March 2017, Legendary Entertainment announced that Rossio would lead their writers room to help develop the story for Godzilla vs. Kong.[5] He received "story by" credit on the film.[6] In June 2019, Rossio was announced as the screenwriter for The Amazing Maurice.[7]

In 2021, Rossio and Bill Marsilii sold their spec script Time Zone to Amazon Studios. The film will be a joint venture between Amazon Studios and Davis Entertainment.[8]

In February 2023 Ashly Bell and Dr. Bernice A King (daughter of Martin Luther King) announced their intent to executive produce Cash Money, written by Terry Rossio and Kevin Arbouet, concurrent with the launch of ReadLife Entertainment, which plans to create television and film projects centered around strong social messaging. Arbouet is going to direct Cash Money.[9]

Controversy

On November 23, 2018, Rossio expressed his condolences to parents of "vaccine damaged children", however, he likened the term "anti-vax" to a slur equivalent to "nigger." Following immediate outcry, he apologized the day after for using the slur and for proclaiming that both epithets were analogous.[10]

Filmography

Year Film Credit Notes Ref.
1989 Little Monsters Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott
1992 Aladdin Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott & Ron Clements and John Musker
1994 The Puppet Masters Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott and David S. Goyer
1998 The Mask of Zorro Screenplay by
Story by 		Co-wrote screenplay with John Eskow and Ted Elliott
Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott and Randall Jahnson
Godzilla Story by Early unproduced screenplay; Co-wrote with Ted Elliott [3]
Small Soldiers Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott & Gavin Scott and Adam Rifkin
2000 The Road to El Dorado Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott
2001 Shrek Written by
Co-producer 		Co-wrote with Ted Elliott & Joe Stillman and Roger S. H. Schulman
2002 Treasure Planet Story by Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Ron Clements and John Musker
2003 Pirates of the Caribbean:
The Curse of the Black Pearl 		Screenplay by
Story by 		Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott
Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert
2005 The Legend of Zorro Story by Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
2006 Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Man's Chest 		Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott
Déjà Vu Written by
Executive producer 		Co-wrote with Bill Marsilii
2007 Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World's End 		Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott
National Treasure:
Book of Secrets 		Story by Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Gregory Poirier & Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley
2009 G-Force Associate producer Uncredited rewrite
2011 Pirates of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides 		Screenplay by
Executive producer 		Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott
Pirates of the Caribbean:
Tales of the Code – Wedlocked 		Written by Short film; Co-wrote with Ted Elliott
2013 Lovestruck: The Musical Written by
Executive producer 		TV film; Co-wrote with Jaylynn Bailey
The Lone Ranger Screenplay by
Executive producer 		Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott and Justin Haythe
2017 Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Men Tell No Tales 		Story by
Executive producer 		Early unproduced screenplay; co-wrote story with Jeff Nathanson
2019 Aladdin Based on Credited with Ron Clements & John Musker and Ted Elliott
2021 Godzilla vs. Kong Story by Head of writers room; co-wrote story with Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields [11][5]
2022 The Amazing Maurice Screenplay by [7]
2024 Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Screenplay by
Story by 		Co-wrote script with Jeremy Slater and Simon Barrett
Co-wrote story with Barrett and Adam Wingard 		[12]

Other credits

Year Film Role
1997 Men in Black Additional literary material (uncredited)
1998 Antz Consultant/advisor
2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
2004 Shrek 2 Creative consultant
King Arthur Additional literary material (uncredited)
National Treasure Additional literary material (uncredited)
2008 The Spiderwick Chronicles Additional literary material (uncredited)
2015 Jake and the Never Land Pirates Episode #89 – Captain Frost
Co-wrote storyboards with Ted Elliott
2016 Star Trek Beyond Additional literary material (uncredited)
2021 Arcane Writing consultant

References

  1. ^ Lodge, Guy (January 30, 2023). "'The Amazing Maurice' Review: Spry British Animated Romp Shows a Cat (or Even a Rat) May Look at a King". Variety. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Numbers - Top Grossing Screenwriter at the Worldwide Box Office". the-numbers.com.
  3. ^ a b Aiken, Keith (May 10, 2015). "Godzilla Unmade: The History of Jan De Bont's Unproduced TriStar Film – Part 1 of 4". SciFi Japan. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  4. ^ Patten, Dominic (August 4, 2015). "'Pirates' Scribe Terry Rossio Hit With Commissions Non-Payment Lawsuit". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Kit, Borys (March 10, 2017). "'Godzilla vs. Kong' Film Sets Writers Room (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  6. ^ "Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Entertainment's Monsterverse Shifts into Overdrive as Cameras Roll on the Next Big-Screen Adventure "Godzilla Vs. Kong"". Business Wire. November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Aguilar, Carlos (June 16, 2019). "Terry Pratchett's 'The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents' Is Being Developed Into An Animated Feature". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  8. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 4, 2021). "Bill Marsilii & Terry Rossio Sell Sci-Fi Action Thriller Spec 'Time Zone' To Amazon Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  9. ^ Jackson, Angelique (February 13, 2023). "Ashley D. Bell Announces Ready Entertainment Production Company (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  10. ^ Ramos, Dino–Ray (November 25, 2018). "'Pirates Of The Caribbean' Screenwriter Terry Rossio Says Using The N-Word Was A "Mistake" – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  11. ^ "Godzilla vs. Kong". Writers Guild of America East. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  12. ^ "Origins". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved April 26, 2023.