Mark Neveldine

Mark Neveldine is a writer, director and producer specializing in a particularly hunky and in-your-face brand of action movie. Along with writing/directing partner Brian Taylor, Neveldine built up a heavy dose of blockbuster credentials through the late 2000s, first with the two-part "Crank" series, co-starring Jason Statham and Amy Smart, and then with '09's "Gamer," another action-thriller, with Gerard Butler muscling through the lead role along with Michael C. Hall and Amber Valletta. Neveldine married actress Alison Lohman, who played Trace in "Gamer," that same year (Neveldine himself had a brief acting career in the early 2000s). In '10, Neveldine and Taylor wrote the screenplay for yet another action-thriller, "Jonah Hex"--which was based on the DC Comics series about a bounty hunter--but because of reported creative differences with Warner Brothers, the duo bailed out of their directing posts, a move that likely didn't help the studio, along with its star-studded cast--including John Malkovich, Megan Fox, and Josh Brolin in the title role--avoid a collision course with a serious bomb. Despite the disaster, Neveldine and Taylor still managed to direct Nicolas Cage in the action-thriller sequel to "Ghost Rider," "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance."