--- name: "John Logan" canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-logan" fi1m_id: "john-logan" imdb_id: "nm0517589" tmdb_id: 932 wikidata_id: "Q384004" roles: ["Writer","Producer"] born: "24 September 1961" reviewed_on_fi1m: 14 average_fi1m_score: 68 average_as: "writer" average_over: 14 updated: "2026-10-05T02:47:48.920869+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." --- # John Logan ## Identity John Logan - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-logan - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** john-logan - **IMDb ID:** nm0517589 - **TMDB ID:** 932 - **Wikidata ID:** Q384004 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logan_(writer), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q384004, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0517589/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/932 Writer and producer. Born 24 September 1961 in San Diego, California, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Writer, Producer - **Born:** 24 September 1961, San Diego, California, USA - **Active:** 2000–present - **Also known as:** John David Logan, جون ديفيد لوغان - **Frequently works with:** [Graham King](https://film.one/person/graham-king.md), [Johnny Depp](https://film.one/person/johnny-depp.md), [Ralph Fiennes](https://film.one/person/ralph-fiennes.md), [Barbara Broccoli](https://film.one/person/barbara-broccoli.md), [Daniel Craig](https://film.one/person/daniel-craig.md), [Martin Scorsese](https://film.one/person/martin-scorsese.md), [Michael G. Wilson](https://film.one/person/michael-g-wilson.md), [Neal Purvis](https://film.one/person/neal-purvis.md) - **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscar nominations - **Average Fi1m score:** 68, as writer, over 14 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 68 (6), 2010s 71 (7), 2020s 47 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 68 to 66 across 14 titles - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 6 at 60–79, 5 under 60 - **Genres:** Drama 8, Adventure 7, Action 6, Thriller 4, Science Fiction 3, Family 2 - **Screen time:** 28 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $5,176m across 13 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logan_(writer), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q384004, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0517589/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/932 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street*](https://film.one/film/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street.md) (81), [*Hugo*](https://film.one/film/hugo.md) (76), [*Coriolanus*](https://film.one/film/coriolanus.md) (74), [*The Time Machine*](https://film.one/film/the-time-machine.md) (47) - **Hulu:** [*Gladiator*](https://film.one/film/gladiator.md) (84), [*Penny Dreadful*](https://film.one/tv/penny-dreadful.md) (76), [*The Aviator*](https://film.one/film/the-aviator.md) (74) - **Apple TV:** [*Star Trek: Nemesis*](https://film.one/film/star-trek-nemesis.md) (50), [*Michael*](https://film.one/film/michael.md) (47) - **HBO Max:** [*The Last Samurai*](https://film.one/film/the-last-samurai.md) (72) - **Peacock:** [*Alien: Covenant*](https://film.one/film/alien-covenant.md) (57) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on John Logan > John Logan writes for actors in big rooms: monsters, emperors, spies, all given long speeches and clear motives. The clarity is his gift and his habit; he rarely trusts a scene to make its point without a line saying so. Somewhere in most John Logan scripts there is a room lit by one candle and a character explaining what the story means. In *Penny Dreadful* (2014) the candle is literal: his Victorian monsters talk to each other for whole scenes, and some of the speeches are fine and some are filling. In *Star Trek: Nemesis* (2002) the doubling of Picard and his young enemy is rhymed with Data and a simpler android, and the dialogue points it out in case we missed it. In *Hugo* (2011) the film keeps checking that we have understood why old films matter, after the pictures have already told us. He began as a playwright, and he still writes like one. He wrote for the Chicago stage first, *Never the Sinner* (1985) among the plays, and turned to screenplays in the late 1990s with *Any Given Sunday* (1999). *Gladiator* (2000) made his name and it holds up, stirring and bloody, with someone worth caring about under the armour, though its political exchanges have an obvious good side and bad side. After that the big directors kept asking. *The Aviator* (2004) and *Hugo* for Martin Scorsese, *Sweeney Todd* (2007) for Tim Burton, *Skyfall* (2012) and *Spectre* (2015) for Sam Mendes. In 2014 he created *Penny Dreadful*, followed it with *City of Angels* (2020), and directed a film of his own, *They/Them* (2022). What he does well is give actors something to play. Daniel Craig and Judi Dench in *Skyfall* have a relationship with proper weight, and the film is absorbing because of it. Eva Green's Vanessa Ives in *Penny Dreadful* is written seriously enough that the pulp around her stops feeling like pulp, and Russell Crowe's Maximus carries a grief the film keeps returning to. Logan is drawn to dark, heightened people in heightened worlds. He has called himself "a total monster geek", and *Penny Dreadful* is that enthusiasm done with care. What he does less well is stop. *Skyfall* explains Bond's past when Craig and Dench have already done it with a look. *Rango* (2011) winks at *Chinatown* and *High Noon* until winking is the main activity, and we were bored, then annoyed at being bored in a film that handsome. *Spectre*, with four credited writers, spends two hours putting old parts back together. Then comes *Michael* (2026), where for once Logan says too little. The script is a straightforward rise that stops before the difficult years, and along the way there are scenes of Michael Jackson being kind to children, offered as evidence of a good heart. We watched those with a knot in our stomach. The man who wrote *The Aviator*, and let Howard Hughes fall apart in the same scene that admired him, wrote this without one line admitting a difficulty. He has said he insists on doing new things. The new thing we would like is a pause. Craig and Dench have already shown him it works. ## Biography John Logan is an American playwright, screenwriter and producer. Born on 24 September 1961 in San Diego, California, he is credited as writer on the 2026 film *Michael* and as co-writer of the screenplay for *Skyfall* (2012). His other film writing credits include *Gladiator* (2000), *The Last Samurai* (2003), *The Aviator* (2004), *Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street* (2007), *Hugo* (2011), *Spectre* (2015) and *Alien: Covenant* (2017). He created the television series *Penny Dreadful* (2014). Logan has received three Academy Award nominations for screenwriting. He has also won a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (14) - *Michael* (2026), Fi1m 47, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/michael.md) - *Alien: Covenant* (2017), Fi1m 57, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/alien-covenant.md) - *Spectre* (2015), Fi1m 58, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/spectre.md) - *Penny Dreadful* (2014), Fi1m 76, Creator, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/penny-dreadful.md) - *Skyfall* (2012), Fi1m 81, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/skyfall.md) - *Coriolanus* (2011), Fi1m 74, Producer, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/coriolanus.md) - *Hugo* (2011), Fi1m 76, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/hugo.md) - *Rango* (2011), Fi1m 77, Story, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/rango.md) - *Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street* (2007), Fi1m 81, Screenplay, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street.md) - *The Aviator* (2004), Fi1m 74, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-aviator.md) - *The Last Samurai* (2003), Fi1m 72, Screenplay, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-samurai.md) - *Star Trek: Nemesis* (2002), Fi1m 50, Story, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/star-trek-nemesis.md) - *The Time Machine* (2002), Fi1m 47, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-time-machine.md) - *Gladiator* (2000), Fi1m 84, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/gladiator.md) ## Complete filmography (31) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Michael* (2026), Writer — Fi1m 47, [page](https://film.one/film/michael.md) - *They/Them* (2022), Director, Executive Producer, Writer - *Penny Dreadful: City of Angels* (2020), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator - *National Theatre Live: Red* (2018), Theatre Play - *Alien: Covenant - Prologue: Phobos* (2017), Producer - *No More Lonely People* (2017), as Radio Host - *Alien: Covenant* (2017), Screenplay — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/alien-covenant.md) - *Genius* (2016), Producer, Screenplay - *Spectre* (2015), Screenplay — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/spectre.md) - *Jamie Marks Is Dead* (2014), Executive Producer - *Penny Dreadful* (2014), series, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/penny-dreadful.md) - *Skyfall* (2012), Screenplay — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/skyfall.md) - *Hugo* (2011), Screenplay — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/hugo.md) - *Rango* (2011), Writer, Story — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/rango.md) - *Coriolanus* (2011), Screenplay, Producer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/coriolanus.md) - *Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street* (2007), Screenplay, Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street.md) - *The Aviator* (2004), Writer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-aviator.md) - *The Last Samurai* (2003), Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-samurai.md) - *Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas* (2003), Writer - *Star Trek: Nemesis* (2002), Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/star-trek-nemesis.md) - *The Time Machine* (2002), Screenplay — Fi1m 47, [page](https://film.one/film/the-time-machine.md) - *Gladiator* (2000), Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/gladiator.md) - *Any Given Sunday* (1999), Screenplay, Screenstory - *RKO 281* (1999), Screenplay - *Bats* (1999), Screenplay - *Tornado!* (1996), Writer - *Ascent*, series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator - *Untitled Hannibal Film*, Screenplay - *Untitled Gene Kelly Project*, Writer, Producer - *Blood Meridian*, Writer - *You Should Be Dancing*, Writer ## Gallery - ![John Logan](https://film.one/media/person/257/gallery-055e424dbdb1.jpg) John Logan — John Logan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/John_Logan_headshot_color_2009.jpg/1280px-John_Logan_headshot_color_2009.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Crew members of the movie "Genius" at the 2016 Berlinale party of U.S. Embassy Berlin. L to R: John Logan (writer), Guy Pearce, and Tommy Tonge](https://film.one/media/person/257/gallery-fca7cc307398.jpg) Crew members of the movie "Genius" at the 2016 Berlinale party of U.S. Embassy Berlin. L to R: John Logan (writer), Guy Pearce, and Tommy Tonge — usbotschaftberlin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Crew_members_of_the_movie_%22Genius%22_at_the_Berlinale_party_%2825036107966%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 3 nominated - 2012: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Hugo* - 2005: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *The Aviator* - 2001: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Gladiator* ### Other awards — 1 won, 2 nominated - Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical 2020: Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (nominated), for *Moulin Rouge!* - European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film 2016: European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film (nominated), for *Spectre* - Tony Award for Best Play 2010: Tony Award for Best Play (won), for *Red* *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/john-logan