David Koepp

David Koepp (/kɛp/; born June 9, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He is the fourth highest-grossing screenwriters of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.6 billion.^[1] Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial success in a wide variety of genres.

David Koepp
Koepp in 2022
Born	(1963-06-09) June 9, 1963 (age 62) Pewaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Education	University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Occupations	Screenwriter film director producer author
Years active	1988–present
Works	Full list
Spouses	Rosario Varela (divorced) Melissa Thomas
Children	4

He gained prominence in the 1990s as one of New Hollywood's most sought-after screenwriters, known for his versatility in handling action, science fiction, thriller, and horror genres. Koepp holds the record for the highest-grossing films of all time as lead screenwriter for Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993), a distinction he maintained for several years. His extensive and commercially successful filmography has established him as one of the most notable screenwriters in the history of cinema.^[2]

Throughout his prolific career, Koepp has collaborated with acclaimed directors on numerous high-profile projects. His early work includes the screenplays for the neo-noir crime film Carlito's Way (1993), the inaugural installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise (1996), and the first big-screen adaptation of Spider-Man (2002). He continued his partnership with Spielberg, writing The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), War of the Worlds (2005), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). In addition to original stories and adaptations, Koepp is known for his skill in developing compelling narratives within established franchises.^[3][4]

Beyond screenwriting, Koepp has transitioned into directing feature films himself, including the supernatural thriller Stir of Echoes (1999), the Stephen King adaptation Secret Window (2004), the fantasy-comedy Ghost Town (2008), and the action-thriller Premium Rush (2012). He has also expanded his storytelling career into literature, publishing the thriller novels Cold Storage (2019) and Aurora (2022). Koepp continues to write for major films, including Jurassic World Rebirth (2025).^[5]

Early life and education

Koepp was born in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, as the youngest of four children to Margaret (Fairfield), a family therapist, and Donald Koepp, who owned a billboard company.^[6][7][8][9] While attending Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wisconsin, he worked evenings and weekends at the McDonald's restaurant in Delafield.^{[citation needed]}

Originally studying to become an actor, first at the University of Minnesota for one year and afterwards at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for two years, he enrolled in the film school of the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1984.^[6][10][11] He graduated with a bachelor's degree in film from UCLA in 1990.^[12]

Career

1990s and 2000s

As a writer, Koepp worked on blockbuster Hollywood films such as Jurassic Park with Steven Spielberg, Mission: Impossible with Brian De Palma and Spider-Man with Sam Raimi.

Koepp had a cameo appearance as the "Unlucky Bastard", a minor character devoured by a T. rex that roams San Diego in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which he co-wrote and for which he was a second unit director. Although Koepp did not write Jurassic Park III, he did devise the film's basic storyline.^[13][14] Koepp later declined an offer to write a script for the fourth film in the series, Jurassic World, as he felt he had nothing left to contribute to the series.^[15]

Koepp was reportedly paid $4,000,000 for his Panic Room screenplay. He wrote the screenplay for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for Spielberg and George Lucas and co-wrote and directed 2008's Ghost Town starring Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear.

Koepp's work as a director has not had quite the same box office success. His films include Secret Window, Stir of Echoes, and The Trigger Effect. Koepp has worked in television, creating the 2002 series Hack starring David Morse.

2010s

In 2012, Koepp directed Premium Rush, which he co-wrote with John Kamps.^[16] In an August 2011 lawsuit, Joe Quirk, the author of the 1998 novel The Ultimate Rush, accused Koepp and the makers of Premium Rush of copyright infringement.^[17] On April 2, 2013, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed this case, finding that the two works were not substantially similar.^[18]

On February 17, 2013, Koepp received the WGA East's Ian McClellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement.^[19]

On July 10, 2013, Lionsgate was reported to have acquired the comedic crime novel The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery, written by Kyril Bonfiglioli.^[20] Koepp directed the film, titled Mortdecai, from a script by Eric Aronson;^[21] Johnny Depp played the lead role of Charlie Mortdecai,^[22] and the film also featured Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, and Paul Bettany.^[23] Koepp adapted the Marcus Sakey novel Brilliance, which will star Will Smith and Noomi Rapace.^[24]

On March 15, 2016, The Walt Disney Company announced a fifth installment of the Indiana Jones saga, with Koepp as its screenwriter and Spielberg directing again.^[25][26] By June 2018, Koepp ultimately backed out of the project due to his commitment to You Should Have Left, a horror drama film Koepp wrote and directed.^[27] Based on the novel of the same name by Daniel Kehlmann, You Should Have Left was released in 2020, and stars Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried.^[28][29] The film was eventually released on June 30, 2023, however it was directed by James Mangold and written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth.

On September 3, 2019, Koepp made his novel debut with the publication of Cold Storage, a science-fiction thriller.^[30] A film adaptation was announced in May 2022 from Studiocanal, with Koepp writing the screenplay and Jonny Campbell directing; the cast consists of Liam Neeson, Joe Keery, Georgina Campbell, and Sosie Bacon.^[31][32]

2020s

On December 10, 2020, Amasia Entertainment and Universal Pictures announced Koepp had been tapped to write the script for a reboot of the Green Hornet franchise titled The Green Hornet and Kato.^[33] On February 25, 2021, it was announced Koepp would write and co-produce the thriller Kimi, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Zoë Kravitz.^[34] The film was released on Max (then HBO Max) on February 10, 2022.^[35]

Koepp's second novel Aurora was published on June 7, 2022, and a film adaptation of the book is in development for Netflix, with Koepp writing the script and Kathryn Bigelow directing.^[36]

In December 2023, it was announced that Koepp had written the screenplay for the psychological thriller film Presence, which was directed by Soderbergh and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.^[37] On January 22, 2024, it was announced that Koepp would return to the Jurassic Park franchise by writing Jurassic World Rebirth, with Gareth Edwards directing and Spielberg serving as executive producer.^[38][39] On April 17, 2024, it was confirmed that Koepp and Spielberg would work again on an original film about UFOs, which will be released in theatres by Universal Pictures on May 15, 2026.^[40][41]

Personal life

Koepp is married to Melissa Thomas, a writer, with whom he has two children.^[42][43] He was previously married to artist Rosario Varela, with whom he has two children.^[6][44]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1988	Apartment Zero	No	Yes	Yes	Co-wrote with Martin Donovan
1990	Bad Influence	No	Yes	No
	Why Me?	No	Yes	No	Credited as Leonard Maas Jr. Co-wrote with Donald E. Westlake
	I Come in Peace	No	Yes	No	Credited as Leonard Maas Jr. Co-wrote with Jonathan Tydor
1991	Toy Soldiers	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Daniel Petrie Jr.
1992	Death Becomes Her	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Martin Donovan
1993	Jurassic Park	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Michael Crichton
	Carlito's Way	No	Yes	No
1994	The Paper	No	Yes	Co-producer	Co-wrote with Stephen Koepp
	The Shadow	No	Yes	No
	Suspicious	Yes	Yes	No	Short film
1996	Mission: Impossible	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Robert Towne and Steven Zaillian
	The Trigger Effect	Yes	Yes	No
1997	The Lost World: Jurassic Park	No	Yes	No	Also second unit director and cameo
1998	Snake Eyes	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Brian De Palma
1999	Stir of Echoes	Yes	Yes	No
2002	Panic Room	No	Yes	Yes
	Spider-Man	No	Yes	No
2004	Secret Window	Yes	Yes	No
2005	War of the Worlds	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Josh Friedman
	Zathura: A Space Adventure	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with John Kamps
2008	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson
	Ghost Town	Yes	Yes	No	Co-wrote with John Kamps
2009	Angels & Demons	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Akiva Goldsman
2011	The Little Engine That Could	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with John Kamps, Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser
2012	Premium Rush	Yes	Yes	No	Co-wrote with John Kamps
2014	Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Adam Cozad
2015	Mortdecai	Yes	No	No
2016	Inferno	No	Yes	No
2017	The Mummy	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Christopher McQuarrie and Dylan Kussman
2020	You Should Have Left	Yes	Yes	No
2022	Kimi	No	Yes	Yes
2023	Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny	No	Yes	No	Co-wrote with Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and James Mangold[45]
2024	Presence	No	Yes	Executive
2025	Black Bag	No	Yes	Executive
	Jurassic World Rebirth	No	Yes	No
2026	Untitled Steven Spielberg film †	No	Yes	No	Post-production
	Cold Storage †	No	Yes	Yes	Based on his novel[46]

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
2002	Hack	No	Yes	Creator
2003	Suspense	Yes	No	TV movie

Unproduced scripts

Year	Title	Notes
1987	FatCity Upside Down
1990	Here and There
1997	Blackwater	co-wrote with Brian De Palma
1998	Mr. Hughes
1999	The Sea-Wolf
2000	The Superconducting Supercollider of Sparkle Creek, Wisconsin	co-wrote with John Kamps
2001	A Trip Uptown
2002	Amazing Spider-Man
2009	Billionaire's Vinegar[47]	co-wrote with John Kamps
	Article II[47]
	Pirate Latitudes[48]
2011	Spy vs. Spy[49]	co-wrote with John Kamps
	The Thin Man[50]
2012	The Wind[51]
2014	Brilliance[52]
2015	The Themis Files[53]
2017	Bride of Frankenstein[54]
2018	Blackhawk[55]
2020	Green Hornet and Kato[56]
2022	Aurora[57][58]	based on his novel

Bibliography

• — (2019). Cold Storage: A Novel. New York: Ecco. ISBN 978-0-06-291643-3. LCCN 2018057661. OCLC 1078435646.
• — (2022). Aurora: A Novel. New York: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-291647-1.