Christopher Markus (born October 16, 1969) and Stephen McFeely (born February 24, 1970) are American screenwriters and producers. McFeely and Markus are the second and the third most successful screenwriters of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts, with a shared total gross of over $12.3 billion.[1] However, in overall metrics, they are the highest grossing screenwriters altogether in terms of worldwide box office with the total gross of $95.8 billion.[2][3]
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Markus and McFeely in 2019 | |
| Born | Markus: October 16, 1969 Buffalo, New York, U.S. McFeely: February 24, 1970 Walnut Creek, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Markus: Rutgers University McFeely: University of Notre Dame Both: University of California, Davis |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Spouse | Markus:
Claire Saunders (m. 2011) |
They gained worldwide recognition for their works that include The Chronicles of Narnia film franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), having written the first three Captain America films (The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier and Civil War), in addition to Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame,[4] which is currently the second highest-grossing film of all time unadjusted for inflation. They also created ABC's Agent Carter TV series, set in the MCU.
Life and career
editChristopher Markus
editMarkus was born on October 16, 1969,[5] in Buffalo, New York.[6] He is the son of Budapest, Hungary-born physician Dr. Gabor Markus and registered nurse Rosemary Golebiewski Markus. He has two siblings, sisters Jennifer and Elizabeth.[7] Markus earned a B.A. in creative writing from Rutgers University in 1991.[6] His father is Jewish while his mother is Catholic.[8] As of April 2012[update], Markus is married to Claire Saunders.[7]
Stephen McFeely
editMcFeely was born on February 24, 1970,[9] in Walnut Creek, California,[5] and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.[10] He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1991.[10]
Collaborators
editMarkus and McFeely met on the graduate program for creative writing at the University of California, Davis in 1994 and they were inspired to become novelists. "We couldn't see how we could make [book] writing our full-time day job," McFeely said in 2011, and they turned to screenwriting instead. After earning their master's degrees in 1996, they moved to Los Angeles to pursue that career, working at such jobs as receptionist at movie production companies. After acquiring an agent, they became professional screenwriters in 1998 with an eventually unproduced script about a real-life Los Angeles murder.[11] Interest generated from the purchased script led HBO Films to commission them to write a biographical drama about actor Peter Sellers.[5] For The Life and Death of Peter Sellers in 2004, they won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special.[12] Subsequent work on The Chronicles of Narnia film franchise set them up for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[13]
They wrote 2022's The Gray Man starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans and future projects include The Electric State starring Millie Bobby Brown.[14] McFeely will also write the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Stephen Hopkins | |
| 2005 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Andrew Adamson | |
| 2007 | You Kill Me | John Dahl | |
| 2008 | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | Andrew Adamson | |
| 2010 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | Michael Apted | |
| 2011 | Captain America: The First Avenger | Joe Johnston | |
| 2013 | Pain & Gain | Michael Bay | |
| Thor: The Dark World | Alan Taylor | ||
| 2014 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Anthony and Joe Russo | |
| 2016 | Captain America: Civil War | ||
| 2018 | Avengers: Infinity War | ||
| 2019 | Avengers: Endgame | Also co-producers | |
| 2022 | The Gray Man | Also executive producers | |
| 2025 | The Electric State | Post-production | |
| 2026 | Avengers: Doomsday | Stephen McFeely only | |
| 2027 | Avengers: Secret Wars |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | SHIELD Interrogators | |
| 2018 | Avengers: Infinity War | Secretary Ross' Aide | Stephen McFeely only |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Writers | Producers | Creators | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | Good vs Evil | Yes | No | No | Episode "M Is for Morlock" |
| 2015–2016 | Agent Carter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
References
edit- ^ "Box Office Mojo - People Index". Boxofficemojo.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ^ "Stephen McFeely". Boxofficemojo.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ^ "Christopher Markus". Boxofficemojo.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ^ Hunt, James (August 14, 2014). "Christopher Markus interview: writing Captain America 2 and 3". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ a b c Kaufman, Anthony (June 16, 2005). "Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely". Variety. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
Both 35 [as of June 16, 2005]
- ^ a b Hann, Christopher (Spring 2016). "Writing of the Heroic Kind". Rutgers Magazine. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
- ^ a b "Obituary for Gabor Markus > Obituary". Buffalo, New York: Kolando Funeral Home. April 29, 2012. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019 – via ObitTree.com.
...son Christopher Markus, a screen writer...
- ^ "St. Joe's honored alumni include Marvel Studios writer". Western New York Catholic. December 14, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ "The Birth of Stephen McFeely". California Birth Index. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ a b Scanlon, Sean (Autumn 2011). "Getting in the game, from Peter Sellers to Captain America". Notre Dame Magazine. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
- ^ Clark, Andrew (June 27, 2011). "Alumni Profiles > Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely". UC Davis Magazine. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
- ^ 57th Emmy Awards (September 18, 2005). "Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Accept The Emmy For Writing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special". Television Academy. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Wittaker, Richard (November 1, 2018). "Austin Film Festival: 10 Things We Learned From the Writers of "Infinity War"". The Austin Chronicle. Texas. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (December 18, 2020). "Universal Lands AGBO's Adaptation Of 'The Electric State' With Millie Bobby Brown Starring, The Russo Brothers Directing And Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely Writing". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
External links
edit- Christopher Markus at IMDb
- Stephen McFeely at IMDb
- Christopher Markus biography at Turner Classic Movies
- Stephen McFeely biography at Turner Classic Movies