---
name: "Matthew Robbins"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/matthew-robbins"
fi1m_id: "matthew-robbins"
imdb_id: "nm0730422"
tmdb_id: 12677
wikidata_id: "Q3852272"
roles: ["Writer","Director"]
born: "15 July 1945"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-04T20:11:19.790130+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."
---

# Matthew Robbins

## Identity

Matthew Robbins

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/matthew-robbins
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** matthew-robbins
- **IMDb ID:** nm0730422
- **TMDB ID:** 12677
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3852272
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Robbins_(screenwriter), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3852272, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730422/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12677

Writer and director. Born 15 July 1945 in New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Director
- **Born:** 15 July 1945, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 1977–present
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 1 acting, 1 directing, 1 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Brad Bird](https://film.one/person/brad-bird.md)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 85 (1), 1980s 63 (1), 2020s 80 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Robbins_(screenwriter), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3852272, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730422/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12677

## Coming up

- *Ray Gunn* (2026-11-04), Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/ray-gunn.md)

## Biography

Matthew Robbins is an American screenwriter and film director. Born on 15 July 1945, he studied at Johns Hopkins University, the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the AFI Conservatory. He began his career writing screenplays with Hal Barwood, including *The Sugarland Express* (1974), for which they shared the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Robbins has directed *Dragonslayer* (1981) and *Batteries Not Included* (1987), on which he also received a screenplay credit. He has collaborated frequently with Guillermo del Toro on films such as *Mimic* (1997), *Crimson Peak* (2015) and *Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio* (2022). His other credits include *Don't Be Afraid of the Dark* (2010) and the screenplay for *Ray Gunn* (2026).

Robbins has also written for Indian cinema, including *7 Khoon Maaf* (2011).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

### Performed in (1)

- *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (1977), Fi1m 85, as Returnee #3 Flt. 19 — [page](https://film.one/film/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.md)

### Directed (1)

- **batteries not included* (1987), Fi1m 63, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/batteries-not-included.md)

### Wrote (1) — the average rests on these

- *Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio* (2022), Fi1m 80, Screenstory — [page](https://film.one/film/guillermo-del-toros-pinocchio.md)

## Complete filmography (30)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Ray Gunn* (2026), Screenplay — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/ray-gunn.md)
- *Megalopolis* (2024), Thanks — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/megalopolis.md)
- *Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio* (2022), Screenstory — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/guillermo-del-toros-pinocchio.md)
- *Incredibles 2* (2018), Thanks — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/incredibles-2.md)
- *Madame* (2017), Screenplay
- *Rangoon* (2017), Screenplay
- *Chatô, The King of Brazil* (2015), Writer
- *Crimson Peak* (2015), Writer
- *Vijay and I* (2013), Writer, Script, Idea, Story, Screenplay
- *7 Khoon Maaf* (2011), Screenplay
- *Don't Be Afraid of the Dark* (2010), Screenplay
- *The Concert* (2009), Screenplay
- *Blood Brothers* (2007), Story
- *Ratatouille* (2007), Thanks — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/ratatouille.md)
- *The Incredibles* (2004), Thanks — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/the-incredibles.md)
- *Mimic 2* (2001), Characters
- *Mimic* (1997), Screenplay, Screenstory
- *Bingo* (1991), Director
- *Mothers, Daughters and Lovers* (1989), Director
- **batteries not included* (1987), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/batteries-not-included.md)
- *Amazing Stories* (1985), series, Director
- *Warning Sign* (1985), Writer, Executive Producer
- *The Legend of Billie Jean* (1985), Director
- *Dragonslayer* (1981), Director, Screenplay
- *Corvette Summer* (1978), Director, Writer
- *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (1977), as Returnee #3 Flt. 19 — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.md)
- *MacArthur* (1977), Writer
- *The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings* (1976), Screenplay
- *The Sugarland Express* (1974), Story, Screenplay
- *Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB* (1967), Story

## Gallery

- ![Matthew Robbins](https://film.one/media/person/295086/gallery-db38fffecb88.jpg) Matthew Robbins — Original uploader was Blmurch at en.wikipedia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Matthew_Robbins_in_2005.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Matthew Robbins](https://film.one/media/person/295086/gallery-d8abbb20819b.jpg) Matthew Robbins — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- European Film Award for Best Screenwriter 2010: European Film Award for Best Screenwriter (nominated), for *Le Concert*
- Best Screenplay Award 1974: Best Screenplay Award (won), for *The Sugarland Express*

*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/matthew-robbins