David Harold Franzoni (born March 4, 1947) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He conceived the story for, co-wrote and co-produced the 2000 film Gladiator, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. His other screenplays include King Arthur (2004), Amistad (1997), and Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986).
Career Franzoni's script for Gladiator was a revival of the sword-and-sandal genre, using characters very different from the original and drawing upon available historic and archaeological sources. He started to write the story in the 1970s, after reading the 1958 non-fiction book Those About to Die by Daniel P. Mannix, which detailed the Roman gladiatorial games.Solomon, John (2004). "Gladiator from Screenplay to Screen." In Winkler, Martin M. (Ed.), Gladiator: Film and History, pp. 1–15. Blackwell Publishers.
For Amistad, Franzoni decided not to use a standard narrative, explaining, "the typical slant in this sort of film is to have the poor, chained black man arrive in the presence of the white guy, who has a good soul and fights the good faith to liberate the black man." Franzoni was also the one who convinced Steven Spielberg to direct the film.
Franzoni stated that the screenplay of King Arthur "aims more for history than myth," and again relied upon archaeological evidence in an attempt to create a more realistic human and political interpretation of the character.
Filmography +YearTitleWriterProducerDirector(s)Notes1986Jumpin' Jack FlashPenny Marshallco-written with Charles Shyer, Nancy Meyers and Chris Thompson1992Citizen CohnFrank Pierson television film1997AmistadSteven Spielberg2000GladiatorRidley Scottco-written with John Logan and William Nicholson2004King ArthurAntoine Fuqua2018Black and White Stripes: The Juventus StoryLa Villa Brothersdocumentary film2024Gladiator IIRidley Scottbased on characters created by TBAJSAHimselfdirectorial debut
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