Scott Derrickson

Writer/director Scott Derrickson gave America nightmares with a series of slick scary movies. Seeing that so many of his films deal with the nature of good and evil, god and the devil, it should come as no surprise that Derrickson studied theology alongside literature, philosophy and film at Biola University, CA, a university known for its evangelical Christian viewpoint. Moving to the USC School of Cinematic Arts to study film production, Derrickson made his mark directing and co-writing (with regular collaborator Paul Harris Boardman) the short "Love in Ruins" (1995). His next project was as writer on slasher sequel "Urban Legends: Final Cut" (2000) before taking his first trip to hell writing and directing "Hellraiser: Inferno" (2000) the fifth installment in the long running horror franchise. After working with Wim Wenders on "Land of Plenty" (2004), Derrickson's first breakout hit was as director on "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" (2005), once again co-written with Boardman. This lead to Derrickson directing the big budget remake of sci-fi classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (2008) starring Keanu Reeves. Despite generally bad reviews, it still claimed the number one spot at the American box-office on opening weekend and went onto earn over $230 million worldwide. However it was a return to the supernatural with the deeply creepy "Sinister" (2012) which saw Derrickson pick up fans and critical plaudits alongside multiple awards and nominations on the horror film circuit. Stepping down from directing Derrickson and Boardman wrote the script for "The Devil's Knot" (2013), a crime drama with a satanic twist, directed by Atom Egoyan and starring Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon. Derrickson returned to directing with "Deliver Us From Evil" (2014) based on the book "Beware the Night" (2001). In June 2014 Derrickson was confirmed as director of "Doctor Strange" (2016) with Benedict Cumberbatch taking the title role.