Peyton Reed

Peyton Reed could thank fellow filmmaker Edgar Wright for his big break. After a long established deal that would have had Wright-the writer/director behind "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (2010)-adapting the Ant-Man comic to screen for Marvel Studios was nullified due to creative differences, Reed was brought in to fill his shoes on the production. Having cut his teeth on studio comedies like "Bring It On" (2000), "The Break-Up" (2006), and "Yes-Man" (2008), Reed was deemed an amenable choice for Marvel and Disney's "Ant-Man" (2015) picture: his first true step toward blockbuster moviemaking. Peyton Reed was born on July 4, 1964, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He'd remain in state throughout his academic tenure, attending University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he worked in UNC Student Television and played deejay for college radio station WXYC. Following graduation, Reed began working a variety of jobs on Hollywood productions, serving in the transportation department for films like "Bull Durham" (1988) and the comedy "Two Idiots in Hollywood" (1988), and in the art department for "Night Life" (1989) and "Easy Wheels" (1989). His first steady directing job came on the short-lived television adaptation of "Back to the Future" (CBS 1991-92), which begat further TV work like "The Weird Al Show" (CBS 1997) and "Upright Citizens Brigade" (Comedy Central 1998-2000). Reed's first feature was "Bring It On" (2000), the cult hit cheerleading comedy that helped kick off the film careers of Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku. His following films did not leave quite the same mark "Bring It On" did on pop culture, though both the Vince Vaughn/Jennifer Aniston rom-com "The Break-Up" (2006) and the Jim Carrey comedy "Yes Man" (2008) did substantially better at the box office than the high school favorite. In 2014, Reed was roped in to replace director Edgar Wright on the developing Marvel Studios movie "Ant-Man" (2015), which opened to solid reviews and impressive box-office.