James Vanderbilt

James Platten Vanderbilt (born November 17, 1975)^[2][3] is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for writing the films Zodiac (2007),^[4] The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and its 2014 sequel, and Independence Day: Resurgence (2016). He also co-wrote and produced Scream (2022) and its 2023 sequel. Vanderbilt also contributed as producer for several films, including The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) and Ready or Not (2019).

James Vanderbilt
Born	James Platten Vanderbilt November 17, 1975 (1975-11-17) (age 49)
Alma mater	University of Southern California
Occupations	Screenwriter director producer
Spouse	Amber Freeman ​ (m. 2005)​ [1]
Father	Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt III
Relatives	Vanderbilt family

Early life and education

A member of the Vanderbilt family of New York, James is the son of Alison Campbell (née Platten) and Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt III.^[5] His paternal great-grandfather Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Sr. died on the RMS Lusitania in the 1915 sinking, his paternal grandfather, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr., once chaired the New York Racing Association, and his maternal grandfather, Donald Campbell Platten, was the chief executive and chairman of Chemical Bank.^[1][2][6]

Vanderbilt was raised in Norwalk, Connecticut, and attended school at New Canaan Country School.^[7] He is a graduate of St. Paul's School, USA and the University of Southern California.^[1]

Career

His production company, Mythology Entertainment, started in 2011.^[8] It was later reincorporated into Project X Entertainment as of 2019.^[9]

In May 2016, Mythology acquired intellectual property rights to Slender Man from the character's creator Eric Knudsen.^[10] Vanderbilt later produced a film adaptation of the character in 2018.

In 2020, Vanderbilt co-wrote the script for the fifth installment of the Scream franchise, starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Dylan Minnette, Mason Gooding, Kyle Gallner, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mikey Madison and Sonia Ben Ammar.^[11] The film was released on January 14, 2022.^[12][13] Vanderbilt's next project, Nuremberg is about the Nuremberg trials.^[14]

Filmography

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Director	Notes
2003	Darkness Falls	Yes	No	Jonathan Liebesman
	Basic	Yes	Yes	John McTiernan
	The Rundown	Yes	No	Peter Berg
2007	Zodiac	Yes	Yes	David Fincher
2010	The Losers	Yes	No	Sylvain White
2012	The Amazing Spider-Man	Yes	No	Marc Webb
2013	White House Down	Yes	Yes	Roland Emmerich
2014	The Amazing Spider-Man 2	Story	No	Marc Webb
2015	Truth	Yes	Yes	Himself	Directorial debut
2016	Independence Day: Resurgence	Yes	No	Roland Emmerich
2018	Slender Man	No	Yes	Sylvain White
	The House with a Clock in Its Walls	No	Yes	Eli Roth
2019	Murder Mystery	Yes	Yes	Kyle Newacheck
	Ready or Not	No	Yes	Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett	Cameo, Mr. Le Bail
2022	Scream	Yes	Yes
	Ambulance	No	Yes	Michael Bay
	Bed Rest	No	Yes	Lori Evans Taylor
2023	Scream VI	Yes	Yes	Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett
	Murder Mystery 2	Yes	Yes	Jeremy Garelick
2024	Abigail	No	Yes	Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett
2025	Fountain of Youth	Yes	Executive	Guy Ritchie
	Nuremberg	Yes	Yes	Himself	Post-production
2026	Scream 7	Story	Yes	Kevin Williamson	Production

Executive producer

• Altered Carbon (2018)
• Suspiria (2018)
• American Dream/American Knightmare (Documentary)
• The Night Agent (2023)