Rupert Wyatt

Rupert Wyatt (born 26 October 1972) is an English filmmaker.^[1] He made his directorial debut with the 2008 film The Escapist, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His second film was the 2011 blockbuster Rise of the Planet of the Apes. His later directorial endeavors have included the 2014 crime drama The Gambler, the 2019 sci-fi film Captive State, and the first two episodes of the television adaptation of The Mosquito Coast in 2021. He also has served as an executive producer on the series.

Rupert Wyatt
Born	(1972-10-26) 26 October 1972 (age 52) Guildford, Surrey, England
Occupations	Director screenwriter cinematographer producer
Years active	1999–present
Children	3
Website

Early life

Wyatt was born and raised near Winchester in Hampshire.^{[citation needed]} He was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford and Winchester College, Winchester.^[1]

Career

Producing

Wyatt is the founder of the film collective Picture Farm, which has produced numerous shorts, documentaries and features, including the Sundance Award-winning documentary Dark Days.^[1]

Directing

He also co-wrote and directed the British prison escape thriller The Escapist (2008), starring Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Dominic Cooper, Joseph Fiennes, Seu Jorge, Steven Mackintosh and Liam Cunningham.^[2] The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008, was nominated for eight international film awards, and was the winner of two.^[3] In March 2010, he was selected to direct Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise, which was based on a screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.^[4] The film was released on 5 August 2011 to mostly positive reviews^[5] and grossed more than $481 million worldwide.

Wyatt was to be the director of 20th Century Fox's X-Men spin-off film Gambit, to be released on 7 October 2016,^[6] but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.^[7]

He directed the 2019 sci-fi film Captive State.^[8]

His next film announced as director is the thriller Boxman, about a safe-cracker who attempts to rescue the victims of a failed bank heist.^[9]

Personal life

Wyatt currently lives between New York City and Hudson, New York.

Filmography

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1999	Ticks	Yes	Yes	Yes
2004	Get the Picture	Yes	Yes	No

Feature film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
2003	Subterrain	Yes	Yes
2008	The Escapist	Yes	Yes
2011	Rise of the Planet of the Apes	Yes	No
2014	The Gambler	Yes	No	Also music supervisor
2019	Captive State	Yes	Yes	Also producer
TBA	Desert Warrior	Yes	Yes	Post-production

Other credits

• Fishing Without Nets (2014) (Executive producer)
• Animal Farm (2025) (Executive Producer and Co-story credit with Andy Serkis)

Television

Year	Title	Director	Executive Producer	Notes
2014	Turn: Washington's Spies	Yes	No	Episode "Pilot"
2016	The Exorcist	Yes	Yes	Episode "Pilot"
2021	The Mosquito Coast	Yes	Yes	2 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Title	Award/Nomination
2008	The Escapist	Nominated – British Independent Film – Douglas Hickox Award Nominated – Evening Standard British Award for Most Promising Newcomer Nominated – London Critics Film Award for Breakthrough British Filmmaker
2011	Rise of the Planet of the Apes	Nominated – Empire Award for Best Director Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Director