Goldman adapted Ross McDonald's "The Moving Target" for the successful "Harper" (1966), starring Paul Newman, but he really established his credentials with the Oscar-winning original screenplay for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), which teamed Newman and Robert Redford. Scripts for the Redford vehicles "The Hot Rock" (1972) and "The Great Waldo Pepper" (1975), preceded the Oscar-winning adaptation of "All the President's Men" (1976), a marvel of clarity, considering the labyrinthine subject matter, the Watergate scandal. That same year, adapting his novel "Marathon Man" to the screen, Goldman gave audiences the marvelously evil Nazi dentist (Laurence Olivier) torturing Dustin Hoffman while asking, "Is it safe?" Although his only original screenplay since 1969 is "Year of the Comet" (1992), he has stayed busy adapting the work of writers like Cornelius Ryan ("A Bridge Too Far" 1977), Stephen King ("Misery" 1990; "Hearts In Atlantis" 2001; "Dreamcatcher" 2003), John Grisham ("The Chamber" 1996), Nelson Demille ("The General's Daughter" 1999 ) and David Baldacci ("Absolute Power" 1997), as well as his own popular novels ("Magic" 1978, "Heat" and "The Princess Bride", both 1987). In addition, he collaborated with William Boyd and Bryan Forbes on "Chaplin" (1992) and provided the script for "Maverick" (1994), based on the ABC-TV Western series of the 50s and 60s.
Goldman has also written widely acclaimed non-fiction works: "The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway" (1969), in which he uses the plays produced during the 1967-68 season as the basis for an analytical dissection of the Broadway theater; "Adventures in the Screen Trade" (1983), a light-hearted, insider's look at the film business; "Wait till Next Year: The Story of a Season When What Should've Happened Didn't & What Could've Gone Wrong Did" (1988), written with sportswriter Mike Lupica; and "Hype and Glory" (1990), his breezy first-hand account of judging both the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and the Miss American pageant within the space of one year. One of Hollywood's favorite script doctors, he has often done credited and uncredited revisions on ailing screenplays, such as the 1993 Arnold Schwarzenegger film "Last Action Hero" (a commercial failure despite Goldman's efforts) and "Jurassic Park III" (2001). .
Goldman's latest effort is adapting the adventures of the comic book superhero Captain Marvel to the big screen for "Shazam!"