--- name: "Andrew Niccol" canonical: "https://film.one/person/andrew-niccol" fi1m_id: "andrew-niccol" imdb_id: "nm0629272" tmdb_id: 8685 wikidata_id: "Q360737" roles: ["Writer","Producer","Director"] born: "1 June 1964" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 76 average_as: "writer" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-25T01:21:28.325216+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." --- # Andrew Niccol ## Identity Andrew Niccol - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/andrew-niccol - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** andrew-niccol - **IMDb ID:** nm0629272 - **TMDB ID:** 8685 - **Wikidata ID:** Q360737 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Niccol, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q360737, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0629272/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8685 Writer and producer. Born 1 June 1964 in Paraparaumu, New Zealand. ## Details - **Work:** Writer, Producer, Director - **Born:** 1 June 1964, Paraparaumu, New Zealand - **Active:** 1997–2005 - **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 2 directing, 2 writing - **Frequently works with:** [Ethan Hawke](https://film.one/person/ethan-hawke.md) - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as writer, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 84 (2), 2000s 64 (2) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Niccol, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q360737, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0629272/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8685 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Truman Show*](https://film.one/film/the-truman-show.md) (88), [*Gattaca*](https://film.one/film/gattaca.md) (80), [*Lord of War*](https://film.one/film/lord-of-war.md) (65) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Andrew Niccol > Andrew Niccol builds persuasive science fiction from familiar habits of exclusion and control. We recommend *Gattaca* with a reservation that applies to his method: he sometimes keeps explaining after the premise has done its work. In *Gattaca* (1997), Ethan Hawke plays Vincent Freeman with a restraint that sometimes leaves us wanting more from his face. Andrew Niccol gives him a future in which genetic advantage decides who is allowed to get on. We found that prospect unsettling because the discrimination needs so little explanation: the method is futuristic, but the willingness to exclude people is familiar. It remains a persuasive science-fiction drama, even when Niccol makes it more solemn than it needs to be. Niccol made his feature debut with *Gattaca*, writing as well as directing, and the stubborn individual inside a controlling society became a recurring subject. His screenplay for *The Truman Show* (1998), directed by Peter Weir, put media manipulation at the centre of a constructed reality. That is a useful distinction when considering Niccol: not all the films that define his work are films he directed. His gift for a premise is clear enough in both. In *Gattaca*, editor Lisa Zeno Churgin lets tension develop without hurrying the restrained performances. Michael Nyman's score supplies feeling that the acting sometimes holds back, though the music and Niccol's writing can press too hard together. We have time to notice small changes in mood, and that patience gives Vincent's persistence its weight. When Hawke becomes too blank, however, the handsome surroundings begin to seem more interesting than the man. The larger reservation is where Niccol puts his sympathy. *Gattaca* concentrates on Vincent's refusal to accept his allotted place, leaving less room to consider anyone without his determination. The danger is that genetic discrimination seems wrong chiefly because it has overlooked this particular man's abilities. We can want him to succeed and still feel the film owes some attention to the people who have less chance of succeeding. Later films took those concerns into other settings: *Lord of War* (2005) turned to the international arms trade, while *In Time* (2011) made time a currency for examining inequality. *Good Kill* (2014) reunited Niccol with Hawke to consider the ethics of drone warfare. The attraction of these subjects is clear, but a premise still needs people whose behaviour keeps us interested once we understand the rules. Start with *Gattaca*; its solemnity is worth putting up with. ## Biography Andrew Niccol is a New Zealand screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote and directed the 1997 science fiction film *Gattaca*, his feature debut. Niccol left New Zealand at the age of 21 and spent more than ten years directing television commercials in London before moving to Los Angeles. He wrote the screenplay for *The Truman Show* (1998), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay. He has since written and directed films including *S1m0ne* (2002), *Lord of War* (2005), *In Time* (2011), *The Host* (2013) and *Good Kill* (2015). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nzonscreen.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) ### Directed (2) - *Lord of War* (2005), Fi1m 65, Producer, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/lord-of-war.md) - *Gattaca* (1997), Fi1m 80, Writer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/gattaca.md) ### Wrote (2) — the average rests on these - *The Terminal* (2004), Fi1m 63, Story, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-terminal.md) - *The Truman Show* (1998), Fi1m 88, Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-truman-show.md) ## Complete filmography (13) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *I, Object* (2026), Writer, Director, Producer - *Anon* (2018), Writer, Director, Producer - *Good Kill* (2015), Writer, Director, Producer - *The Host* (2013), Director, Screenplay - *In Time* (2011), Director, Producer, Writer - *Lord of War* (2005), Producer, Screenplay, Director — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/lord-of-war.md) - *The Terminal* (2004), Executive Producer, Story — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-terminal.md) - *S1m0ne* (2002), Producer, Director, Screenplay - *The Truman Show: Tru-Talk* (1998), Idea - *The Truman Show* (1998), Producer, Writer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/the-truman-show.md) - *Gattaca* (1997), Director, Writer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/gattaca.md) - *The Cross*, Writer - *Lords of War*, Director, Writer, Producer ## Gallery - ![Andrew Niccol speaking at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.](https://film.one/media/person/87329/gallery-f8862d2ffa18.jpg) Andrew Niccol speaking at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Andrew_Niccol_%287585929216%29.jpg/1280px-Andrew_Niccol_%287585929216%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Andrew Niccol](https://film.one/media/person/87329/gallery-bd10d724ff57.jpg) Andrew Niccol — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Andrew_Niccol_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg/1280px-Andrew_Niccol_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Andrew Niccol Comes Onstage For In Time Panel (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/87329/gallery-df978d109853.jpg) Andrew Niccol Comes Onstage For In Time Panel (2011) — Chris Paduan (uncle_shoggoth), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Damon_Lindelof_and_Andrew_Niccol%2C_In_Time_Panel_2011.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1999: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *The Truman Show* ### Other awards — 1 won - Hugo Awards 1999: Best Dramatic Presentation (won), for *The Truman Show* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © 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/andrew-niccol