Michael De Luca

Michael De Luca (born August 13, 1965) is an American film executive, writer, and film producer. He is also the former president of New Line Cinema and head of production of DreamWorks Pictures. De Luca formerly served as the chairman of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and currently serves as a co-chairperson and CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Michael De Luca
De Luca at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1965-08-13) August 13, 1965 (age 59) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Executive, writer, producer
Employer	Warner Bros.
Title	Chairperson and CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group
Spouse	Angelique Madrid ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2

Early life

De Luca was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His mother was a German-Jewish immigrant, and his father, who was Italian American and Catholic, worked at ConEdison.^[1][2] De Luca began pursuing a career in show business and joined New Line Cinema as an intern while attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 1986, he accepted a full-time position at New Line as a story editor. De Luca completed his degree from Tisch School of the Arts in 1995.^[3]

Career

De Luca received his first credit in 1988, working as a writer on the television series Freddy's Nightmares. In 1990, De Luca made his debut in the film industry as an associate producer on Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, which was quickly followed by his writing/producing role on the 1991 film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. He also worked as a writer in the three seasons of the 1991–93 television series Dark Justice.

De Luca became the President and COO for New Line Cinema in October 1993. During his tenure at New Line Cinema, he oversaw a variety of films that would come to define the studio, including Seven, Friday, Boogie Nights, Austin Powers, Rush Hour, Blade, American History X, and Magnolia. Additionally, De Luca wrote the 1994 film In the Mouth of Madness, directed by John Carpenter, and co-wrote the story for the 1995 film adaptation of the popular British comic book character Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone as the eponymous lead.^[4] In 1996, De Luca was approached by producers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore of the television series Star Trek: Voyager and pitched an idea which turned into an opportunity to write an episode for the series, "Threshold". De Luca left the company in January 2001.^[5]

After New Line Cinema, De Luca became Head of Production at DreamWorks Pictures, his tenure lasting from June 2001 to June 2004.^[6][7]

After leaving DreamWorks, De Luca began a three-year first-look deal as a producer with Sony Pictures in July 2004 and started his own production company, Michael De Luca Productions. His first release under his production company was Ghost Rider (2007), starring Nicolas Cage, followed by 21 and The Love Guru (both 2008) starring Mike Myers.

He was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar two years in a row for The Social Network (2010) and Moneyball (2011). He received a third nomination in 2014 for producing Captain Phillips by Paul Greengrass.

De Luca also produced the 2011 remake of the cult classic vampire horror film Fright Night. De Luca and Dana Brunetti reunited for Fifty Shades of Grey, the 2015 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name.^[8][9] It was a massive financial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing R-rated films of all time.

On January 3, 2020, it was announced that De Luca had been appointed Chairman of the MGM Motion Picture Group.^[10] In July 2022 he and Pamela Abdy left for Warner Bros. Pictures Group, taking up the roles of co-chairpersons and CEO, respectively.^[11]

Personal life

De Luca was previously in a relationship with actress Julianne Moore, star of New Line's Boogie Nights.^[12]

In 2009, he married actress Angelique Madrid (born 1974) from Ft. Worth, Texas; she had been a contestant on the first season of ABC's The Bachelor. They have two children.^[2]

Filmography

Film

Executive producer

• Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
• Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
• The Mask (1994)
• Don Juan DeMarco (1994)
• In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
• Last Man Standing (1996)
• The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
• B.A.P.S. (1997)
• Wag the Dog (1997)
• Dark City (1998)
• Lost in Space (1998)
• Blade (1998) (Uncredited)
• Pleasantville (1998)
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
• Detroit Rock City (1999)
• Body Shots (1999)
• The Bachelor (1999)
• Magnolia (1999)
• Lost Souls (2000)
• Little Nicky (2000)
• Thirteen Days (2000)
• Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
• Blow (2001)
• Town & Country (2001)
• Storytelling (2001)
• Rush Hour 2 (2001)
• Knockaround Guys (2001)
• Life as a House (2001)
• I Am Sam (2001)
• Run Ronnie Run! (2002)
• John Q. (2002)
• Blade II (2002)
• Highway (2002)
• Unconditional Love (2002)
• Simone (2002)
• A Man Apart (2003)

Co-executive producer

• Deep Cover (1992)
• Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)
• One Night Stand (1997)
• Boogie Nights (1997)
• American History X (1998)

Producer

• Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
• Ghost Rider (2007)
• 21 (2008)
• The Love Guru (2008)
• Brothers (2009)
• The Social Network (2010)
• Drive Angry (2011)
• Priest (2011)
• Fright Night (2011)
• Butter (2011)
• Moneyball (2011)
• The Sitter (2011)
• Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)
• Captain Phillips (2013)
• Dracula Untold (2014)
• Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
• Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
• Fifty Shades Freed (2018)
• Under the Silver Lake (2018)
• The Sisters Brothers (2018)
• The Kitchen (2019)
• 12 Mighty Orphans (2021)
• Reminiscence (2021)
• Ricky Stanicky (2024)
• The Fire Inside (2024)

Writer

• The Lawnmower Man (1987) (Short film)
• Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
• In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
• Judge Dredd (1995)

Miscellaneous crew

Year	Film	Role
1989	A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child	Production executive
2003	Old School

Thanks

Year	Film	Role
1996	Bed of Roses	Thanks
1997	Spawn
	Boogie Nights	Special thanks
2008	Tropic Thunder	The producers wish to thank
2011	Tower Heist	Special thanks
2018	The Sisters Brothers	The producers would like to thank
2021	The Suicide Squad	The filmmakers wish to thank
	Licorice Pizza	Special thanks

Television

TV specials

• 89th Academy Awards (2017)
• 90th Academy Awards (2018)

Executive producer

Year	Title	Notes
2006	The Way	Television pilot
2013	Mob City
2015	Childhood's End
2017	Embeds
2018	Escape at Dannemora
2020−21	The Baby-Sitters Club
2021	American Rust
2024	Shōgun

Writer

Year	Title
1988−89	Freddy's Nightmares
1991−93	Dark Justice
1996	Star Trek: Voyager

Miscellaneous crew

Year	Title	Role
1988−90	Freddy's Nightmares	Executive consultant Executive: New Line Cinema
1991	Dark Justice	Executive story consultant

As an actor

Year	Title	Role
2006	The Sopranos	Cop