--- name: "Jonathan Goldstein" canonical: "https://film.one/person/jonathan-goldstein" fi1m_id: "jonathan-goldstein" imdb_id: "nm0326246" tmdb_id: 1236679 wikidata_id: "Q6273224" roles: ["Writer","Director"] born: "1 January 1969" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 65 average_as: "writer" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-24T04:31:51.672510+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." --- # Jonathan Goldstein ## Identity Jonathan Goldstein - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jonathan-goldstein - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** jonathan-goldstein - **IMDb ID:** nm0326246 - **TMDB ID:** 1236679 - **Wikidata ID:** Q6273224 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Goldstein_(filmmaker), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6273224, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0326246/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1236679 Writer and director. Born 1 January 1969 in New York City, New York, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Writer, Director - **Born:** 1 January 1969, New York City, New York, USA - **Active:** 2005–present - **Also known as:** Jonathan Michael Goldstein, Jonathan M. Goldstein - **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 1 directing, 3 writing - **Frequently works with:** [John Francis Daley](https://film.one/person/john-francis-daley.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 65, as writer, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 70 (1), 2010s 74 (1), 2020s 62 (2) - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Genres:** Action 2, Adventure 2, Science Fiction 2, Crime 1, Drama 1 - **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $1,152m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Goldstein_(filmmaker), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6273224, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0326246/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1236679 ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*Spider-Man: Homecoming*](https://film.one/film/spider-man-homecoming.md) (74), [*Bones*](https://film.one/tv/bones.md) (70) - **Apple TV:** [*Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves*](https://film.one/film/dungeons-and-dragons-honor-among-thieves.md) (73) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Jonathan Goldstein > Goldstein and his partner John Francis Daley write big pictures as if they were small comedies about people out of their depth, and the films are best when they stay that size. When the fights take over, the jokes thin and the screen goes grey. A sorcerer who cannot make a spell work when anyone is watching. That is Justice Smith's Simon in *Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves* (2023), and he is Jonathan Goldstein's kind of hero in one figure: capable enough, nervous about it, and funnier for the nerves than for the jokes. The film around him is a heist comedy that happens to have wizards in it, fond of its source rather than solemn about it. Goldstein has spent most of his career putting that sort of person into that sort of frame. He came to it sideways. He left corporate law for television sitcoms in the late 1990s, met Daley on *The Geena Davis Show*, and the two have written together ever since, eight films so far. *Horrible Bosses* (2011) was the screenplay that got them noticed. *Vacation* (2015) and *Game Night* (2018) put them behind the camera, and *Spider-Man: Homecoming* (2017) and the *Dungeons & Dragons* film brought their habits to studio properties. Not every early comedy was as sure-footed; *The Incredible Burt Wonderstone* (2013) was received doubtfully on its execution. The habit is to treat the genre as a place to put a school comedy or a heist. Goldstein and Daley have said they went into *Homecoming* meaning to lean into the high-school side of Peter Parker rather than the tragedy of his origin, and it shows: the film works best when Tom Holland's Peter is late for everything and Michael Keaton's villain is worrying about his mortgage. *Honour Among Thieves* borrows the rhythms of *Game Night*, ordinary people caught in a plot too big for them, and gives Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez an ease the script never spoils by making them a couple. Hugh Grant does the smiling liar he does now, and is delighted to be caught at it. The limit is the same in both films we have reviewed. *Homecoming* gets murkier the higher it climbs. *Honour Among Thieves* is a pleasure while five people bicker in a graveyard and a druid runs through a castle as an owlbear, and then the fights get bigger and it turns loud, grey and long. We laughed more than we expected to at the graveyard, and by the last stretch we were watching the clock, because nothing on screen felt as though it could hurt anyone. What *The Princess Bride* had, and this lacks, is a danger we believed in between the jokes. The next one is *Mayday*. We hope somebody keeps the budget away from the third act. ## Biography Jonathan Michael Goldstein is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He frequently collaborates with John Francis Daley, whom he met while working on the television series The Geena Davis Show. Their joint credits include the screenplay for Horrible Bosses (2011) and co-directing Vacation (2015) and Game Night (2018). Goldstein began his career writing for television sitcoms including The PJs, Good Morning Miami, Four Kings and The New Adventures of Old Christine. He later contributed to the screenplays for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013). With Daley he directed and co-wrote the screenplay for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023). He studied at the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School before moving into entertainment. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) ### Directed (1) - *Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves* (2023), Fi1m 73, Songs, Executive Producer, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/dungeons-and-dragons-honor-among-thieves.md) ### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these - *The Flash* (2023), Fi1m 50, Screenstory — [page](https://film.one/film/the-flash.md) - *Spider-Man: Homecoming* (2017), Fi1m 74, Screenplay, Screenstory — [page](https://film.one/film/spider-man-homecoming.md) - *Bones* (2005), Fi1m 70, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/bones.md) ## Complete filmography (41) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Mayday* (2026), Director, Producer, Writer - *Hysteria!* (2024), series, Executive Producer - *Vacation Friends 2* (2023), Characters - *The Flash* (2023), Screenstory — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/the-flash.md) - *Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves* (2023), Executive Producer, Songs, Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/dungeons-and-dragons-honor-among-thieves.md) - *Vacation Friends* (2021), Writer - *Welcome to Georgia* (2021), Screenplay, Producer - *The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run* (2020), Creative Consultant - *Stuber* (2019), Producer - *In the Dark* (2019), series, Director, Consulting Producer - *Game Night* (2018), as Dan · Director - *Spider-Man: Homecoming* (2017), Screenstory, Screenplay — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/spider-man-homecoming.md) - *Vacation* (2015), as Hot Tub Guy (uncredited) · Director, Writer, Songs - *Horrible Bosses 2* (2014), Story - *Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2* (2013), Screenplay - *The Incredible Burt Wonderstone* (2013), as Stagehand at B&A Theater · Screenplay, Story - *Horrible Bosses* (2011), Screenplay - *Audio Tour* (2011), Director, Screenplay - *$#*! My Dad Says* (2010), series, Writer, Consulting Producer, Executive Story Editor - *Boldly Going Nowhere* (2008), series, Executive Producer - *Teachers* (2006), series, Writer, Supervising Producer - *The New Adventures of Old Christine* (2006), series, Writer, Supervising Producer - *Four Kings* (2006), series, Writer, Supervising Producer - *Bones* (2005), series, Writer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/bones.md) - *Charlie Lawrence* (2003), series, Producer - *Good Morning, Miami* (2002), series, Writer, Consulting Producer - *The Random Years* (2002), series, Consulting Producer - *Imagine That* (2002), series, Writer - *What Babies Do* (2001), as Bill · Screenplay, Director - *The Geena Davis Show* (2000), series, Executive Story Editor, Writer - *Teacher's Pet* (2000), series, Story - *The Weekenders* (2000), series, Writer - *Big Wolf on Campus* (1999), series, Writer - *Fast Food Films* (1999), series, Writer - *The PJs* (1999), series, Writer, Story Editor - *Renegades*, Director - *Monopoly*, Screenplay - *Boldly Going Nowhere*, Executive Producer - *Care Bears*, Producer - *Diya*, Producer - *Untitled Star Trek Film*, Director, Screenplay, Producer --- © 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/jonathan-goldstein