How Lawrence of Arabia Ignited Anthony McCarten, the Film Biographies of Whitney Houston, Neil Diamond, Freddie Mercury, Winston Churchill, Stephen Hawking and Pope Francis: The Film That Lit My Fuse

The Film That Lit My Fuse is a deadline video series that aims to counter industry uncertainty headlines by returning the conversation to the creative endeavors, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s greatest filmmakers.

Today’s subject is Anthony McCarten, the New Zealand-born playwright and novelist who has become the go-to man for character study biopics. He co-wrote and produced the recently released Whitney Houston biopic with the estate I want to dance with someonewith two on Broadway: Neil Diamond’s musical A beautiful sound which opened on December 4 and Cooperationa piece about Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s historic artistic collaboration in the 1980s, which opened earlier this week.

The biopics he wrote and produced grossed more than $1 billion, most of that with the Freddie Mercury Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody. This film won an Oscar for Rami Malek and his biopics darkest hour and theory of everything won best actor for Gary Oldman and Eddie Redmayne. To be The two pause drew nominations for Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce. Here he explains the influences that compelled him to tell true stories for screen and stage.