--- name: "Adam Wingard" canonical: "https://film.one/person/adam-wingard" fi1m_id: "adam-wingard" imdb_id: "nm1417392" tmdb_id: 98631 wikidata_id: "Q4679987" roles: ["Director","Producer","Writer"] born: "3 December 1982" reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_fi1m_score: 64 average_as: "director" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-10-07T04:16:17.717304+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Adam Wingard ## Identity Adam Wingard - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/adam-wingard - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** adam-wingard - **IMDb ID:** nm1417392 - **TMDB ID:** 98631 - **Wikidata ID:** Q4679987 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Wingard, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4679987, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1417392/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/98631 Director and producer. Born 3 December 1982 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Producer, Writer - **Born:** 3 December 1982, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA - **Active:** 2014–present - **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 4 directing, 1 producing - **Frequently works with:** [Dan Stevens](https://film.one/person/dan-stevens.md), [Simon Barrett](https://film.one/person/simon-barrett.md), [Brian Tyree Henry](https://film.one/person/brian-tyree-henry.md), [Jon Jashni](https://film.one/person/jon-jashni.md), [Kaylee Hottle](https://film.one/person/kaylee-hottle.md), [Mary Parent](https://film.one/person/mary-parent.md), [Rebecca Hall](https://film.one/person/rebecca-hall.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 64, as director, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 77 (1), 2020s 63 (4) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 64 to 62 across 4 titles - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 2 under 60 - **Genres:** Action 4, Adventure 2, Science Fiction 2, Thriller 2, Horror 1, Mystery 1 - **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $1,048m across 4 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Wingard, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4679987, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1417392/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/98631 ## Streaming the US now - **AMC+:** [*The Guest*](https://film.one/film/the-guest.md) (77) - **Apple TV:** [*Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire*](https://film.one/film/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire.md) (57) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Adam Wingard > Adam Wingard makes 1980s-flavoured genre films with his writer Simon Barrett, and he is better at setting up a night than seeing it through. Kept small and mean, he is worth an evening; at studio scale the people keep interrupting the monsters. A Wingard film announces itself early. There is a synth line under the titles, a figure alone in a building, and the sense that a John Carpenter film from around 1980 is being remembered with affection. *Onslaught* (2026) does it in minutes: one woman, one building, one night of men who want to get in. The set-up is quick and confident and it makes a promise. Keeping the promise is where Wingard's trouble usually starts. He began small, in low-budget horror between about 2007 and 2011, with *Pop Skull* and *A Horrible Way to Die*, and found his footing when the writer Simon Barrett found him. *You're Next* (2013) was the home-invasion thriller that got them noticed, and *The Guest* (2014) is the one people still bring up, with Dan Stevens at his best for Wingard. Then came other people's material, *Blair Witch* (2016) and *Death Note* (2017), neither warmly received, and after those the monsters: *Godzilla vs. Kong* (2021) and *Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire* (2024). *Onslaught* is his way back down to the ground. Barrett has now written eight films for him, and Wingard's reputation rests on the ones where the two of them were left alone with a genre and not much money. What he does well is the set-piece and the quick sketch. Kong, alone for long stretches of *Godzilla x Kong* without a line of dialogue, is the best thing in that film, and Wingard plainly enjoys him. The first act of *Onslaught* lays out a conspiracy, a doctor and his wife, and the men who will spend the night in and around the building, and it does so briskly and well. What he does less well is wait. In *Godzilla x Kong* the humans keep coming back to read out the plot, and the film sags every time they do; it is good fun for about a third of its 115 minutes. In *Onslaught* the assault arrives in pieces, a burst of violence, a pause for someone to explain, another burst, and Josh Schaeffer and Adam Avery cut the pauses as fast as the fights. We sat there wanting to be frightened and were mildly irritated instead, because a siege lives on what is outside the door, and Wingard kept cutting away from it. The actors suffer for the same reason. Stevens, so good in *The Guest*, has a title and a suit to play in *Onslaught*; Rebecca Hall has less; Alex Pereira's Butcher is a large man who hits things and nothing more. The monster films at least knew that nobody had come for the people. Wingard has said his heart lies in the 1980s and John Carpenter, and we believe him. What we would pay to see next is a Wingard film that dares to be quiet for ten minutes. Everything else, he can already do. ## Biography Adam Wingard is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor and cinematographer. Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, he graduated from Full Sail University in 2002. He began his career in the mumblecore movement before gaining recognition for horror films including *You're Next* (2011) and *The Guest* (2014). He later directed *Blair Witch* (2016) and the Netflix adaptation *Death Note* (2017). Wingard directed *Godzilla vs. Kong* (2021) and returned for *Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire* (2024), on which he also received story credit. He is attached to direct the upcoming A24 film *Onslaught*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, wikizilla.org, latimes.com, deadline.com.* ## On Fi1m (5) ### Directed (4) — the average rests on these - *Onslaught* (2026), Fi1m 58, Director, Story, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/onslaught.md) - *Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire* (2024), Fi1m 57, Executive Producer, Director, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire.md) - *Godzilla vs. Kong* (2021), Fi1m 62, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/godzilla-vs-kong.md) - *The Guest* (2014), Fi1m 77, Editor, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-guest.md) ### Produced (1) - *Fear Street: 1994* (2021), Fi1m 74, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/fear-street-1994.md) ## Complete filmography (42) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Onslaught* (2026), Director, Producer, Story — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/onslaught.md) - *Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire* (2024), Director, Executive Producer, Story — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire.md) - *Fear Street: 1994* (2021), Executive Producer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/fear-street-1994.md) - *Seance* (2021), Executive Producer - *Godzilla vs. Kong* (2021), Director — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/godzilla-vs-kong.md) - *She Dies Tomorrow* (2020), as Dune Buggy Man - *Death Note* (2017), Director - *Blair Witch* (2016), Director, Original Music Composer, Co-Producer - *Outcast* (2016), series, Director - *The Guest* (2014), Director, Editor — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/the-guest.md) - *The Last Survivors* (2014), Editor - *You're Next* (2013), Director, Editor - *24 Exposures* (2013), as Billy - *V/H/S/2* (2013), as Herman (segment "Phase I Clinical Trials") · Executive Producer, Director - *The ABCs of Death* (2013), as Adam (segment "Q is for Quack") · Director - *V/H/S* (2012), as Brad (segment "Tape 56") · Director, Director of Photography, Editor - *Marriage Material* (2012), Director of Photography, Writer - *60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero* (2011), Director - *Ultra Modern* (2011), Director, Writer - *Caitlin Plays Herself* (2011), Director of Photography - *Art History* (2011), as Bill · Director of Photography - *What Fun We Were Having: 4 Stories About Date Rape* (2011), Editor, Writer, Cinematography, Director - *Autoerotic* (2011), Writer, Director, Camera Operator, Editor - *The Zone* (2011), as Director of Photography - *A Horrible Way to Die* (2010), Director, Editor - *Blackmail Boys* (2010), Director of Photography - *Her Name Is Laura Panic* (2009), Writer, Director, Camera Operator, Editor - *Cerebella* (2009), Writer, Director, Camera Operator, Editor - *The Screaming Man* (2009), Director, Editor - *From the Perspective of a Dog* (2008), Director, Cinematography, Editor - *Little Sister Gone* (2008), Director, Writer, Editor, Cinematography, Scoring Mixer - *Laura Panic* (2008), Writer, Director, Cinematography, Producer, Editor - *Paradox Mary* (2008), Writer, Director, Editor, Music, Cinematography - *Patton Oswalt: Werewolves and Lollipops* (2007), Editor, Camera Operator - *Pop Skull* (2007), as Raymond · Director, Writer - *Thousand Year Sleep* (2007), Writer, Director, Editor, Cinematography - *Home Sick* (2007), Director - *Karate Disaster* (2006), as Michael · Director, Editor, Camera Car - *Don't Worry* (2006), Director - *The Girlfriend* (2005), Director, Editor, Director of Photography - *The Little One* (2004), Director of Photography, Director, Editor - *Face/Off 2*, Screenplay ## Gallery - ![Adam Wingard, Margaret Qualley, Roy Lee, Nat Wolff, Keith Stanfield and Masi Oka speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Death Note", at th](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-52a3cdae532d.jpg) Adam Wingard, Margaret Qualley, Roy Lee, Nat Wolff, Keith Stanfield and Masi Oka speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Death Note", at th — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Adam_Wingard%2C_Margaret_Qualley%2C_Roy_Lee%2C_Nat_Wolff%2C_Keith_Stanfield_%26_Masi_Oka_%2835299453114%29.jpg/1280px-Adam_Wingard%2C_Margaret_Qualley%2C_Roy_Lee%2C_Nat_Wolff%2C_Keith_Stanfield_%26_Masi_Oka_%2835299453114%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Adam Wingard speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Death Note", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attri](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-210ade6a3687.jpg) Adam Wingard speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Death Note", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attri — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Adam_Wingard_%2836006140511%29.jpg/1280px-Adam_Wingard_%2836006140511%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Adam Wingard speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Death Note", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attri](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-8d412ca39e57.jpg) Adam Wingard speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Death Note", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attri — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Adam_Wingard_%2836099804386%29.jpg/1280px-Adam_Wingard_%2836099804386%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Writer/director/star/executive producer Adam Wingard (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-8fc3ed3f99e2.jpg) Writer/director/star/executive producer Adam Wingard (2013) — larry-411, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Adam_Wingard_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Adam Wingard](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-cae2a498c15a.jpg) Adam Wingard — Image via TMDB - ![Adam Wingard](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-a52394536537.jpg) Adam Wingard — Image via TMDB - ![Adam Wingard](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-525bf98e96aa.jpg) Adam Wingard — Image via TMDB - ![Adam Wingard](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-791769a9c3eb.jpg) Adam Wingard — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Adam_Wingard_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg/1280px-Adam_Wingard_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Adam Wingard](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-a507b3ceea3a.jpg) Adam Wingard — Image via TMDB - ![Adam Wingard](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-1ff68bb44502.jpg) Adam Wingard — Image via TMDB - ![Adam Wingard](https://film.one/media/person/11812/gallery-f0ccb03158bc.jpg) Adam Wingard — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/adam-wingard