Christopher McQuarrie

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BIRTHDAY

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Princeton Junction, New Jersey, United States

RECENT CREDITS

Killshot (FILM) Jan. 23, 2009

Valkyrie (FILM) Dec. 25, 2008

The Way of the Gun (FILM) Sep. 8, 2000

X-Men (FILM) Jul. 14, 2000

True Crime (FILM) Mar. 19, 1999

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BIOGRAPHY

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A native of southern New Jersey, Christopher McQuarrie attended high school with Bryan Singer, his future collaborator on such monstrously popular projects as "The Usual Suspects" (1995) and "X-Men" (2000). After graduation, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter spent a year working in Western Australia before returning to the USA and a job at a Garden State detective agency, where his job entailed working as a glorified security guard at a rough urban movie theater, as opposed to requiring him to crack many interesting cases. While not exactly the exciting life McQuarrie imagined leading, the experience was a valuable one as it allowed him to study movies and audiences' reaction to them. Just as he was about to give up the detective agency in favor of a career with the New York City Police Department, he was approached by Singer to co-write the screenplay for "Public Access" (1993), a thriller about a small town whose secrets are revealed by the host of a local TV show. "Public Access" was named co-winner (with Victor Nunez's "Ruby in Paradise") of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. Singer and McQuarrie reteamed for the acclaimed "The Usual Suspects", another film noir thriller with an acclaimed script filled with twists and surprises brought to life by an impeccable cast. McQuarrie won both the Oscar and the BAFTA Award for his efforts.

The screenwriter followed up that success by contributing to the shooting script for Singer's big-budget, effects-laden comic-book adventure, "X-Men" (2000). That same year, he marked his own directorial debut with "The Way of the Gun", another crime thriller starring usual suspect Benicio Del Toro and veteran actor James Caan.

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Headlines

Charlize Theron at the Los Angeles Premiere of 'Battle in Seattle'. Clarity Theatre, Beverly Hills, CA. 09-22-08

Theron to Join Cruise on Holiday?

Nov. 4, 2008

Charlize Theron is negotiating to star with Tom Cruise in The Tourist, the remake of French thriller Anthony Zimmer to be directed by Bharat Nalluri. Theron would play an Interpol agent who uses an American tourist in an attempt to flush out an elusive criminal with whom she once had an affair.

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Tom Cruise's United Artists Buys Serial Killer Story

Posted: Sep. 7, 2008

Oliver Stone joins "Alexander" race

Posted: Feb. 21, 2002

Role Call: DiCaprio the Great

Posted: Nov. 2, 2001

Scorsese, DiCaprio team up for "Alexander"

Posted: Oct. 23, 2001

B.O. ANALYSIS: Audiences on 'Watcher' Watch

Posted: Sep. 10, 2000

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