Michael Cormac Newell (born 28 March 1942) is an English director and producer of film and television. He won BAFTA Awards for Best Direction and Best Film for Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). His other films include Dance with a Stranger (1985), Enchanted April (1991), Donnie Brasco (1997), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), and Great Expectations (2012).
Early life Newell was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, as the son of amateur actors, and was educated at St Albans School. He read English at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He then attended a three-year training course at Granada Television with the intention of entering the theatre.
Career Newell directed various British TV shows from the 1960s onwards (such as Spindoe, credited as Cormac Newell, and Big Breadwinner Hog), but eventually shifted his focus to film direction.
His first feature-length project was The Man in the Iron Mask (1977), a made-for-television film. His first critically acclaimed movie was Bad Blood (1981), concerning the 1941 manhunt for the New Zealand mass-killer Stan Graham played by Jack Thompson. This was followed by Dance with a Stranger (1985), a biographical drama starring Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK. For his directorial efforts, Newell won the Award of the Youth at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.
Newell continued his successes in the film industry with Enchanted April (1991), an adaptation of the 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. Miranda Richardson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical and Joan Plowright won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.
During this period, George Lucas recruited Newell as one of the numerous feature film directors to direct episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
The comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) was also critically acclaimed, winning numerous awards, including a César Award (Best Foreign Film), a Golden Globe (Best Actor – Hugh Grant), and a number of London Critics Circle Film Awards (Best Director, Film, Producer, and Screenwriter).
Since these award-winning productions, Newell has directed a number of films in Hollywood, such as Donnie Brasco (1997) (starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp), Pushing Tin (1999) (starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, and Angelina Jolie) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003) (starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, and Julia Stiles).
In 2005, Newell was presented with an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts by the University of Hertfordshire which has a campus in St Albans, his birthplace. He was also awarded the BAFTA Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing for his career prior to 2005. Newell became the first British director of the Harry Potter film series with the production of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth adaptation in the series, which became a major critical and financial success worldwide. Newell is heard briefly as the radio announcer at the beginning of the film.
Newell directed Love in the Time of Cholera in 2007 and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in 2010. In February 2011, Newell attended the British Academy Film Awards along with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, David Heyman, David Barron, David Yates, Alfonso Cuarón, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson to collect the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema on behalf of the Harry Potter film series.
Continuing to work on adaptations, Newell directed Great Expectations (2012) from the novel by Charles Dickens with Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, and Jeremy Irvine in starring roles. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
On Christmas Day in 2016, Newell appeared as a contestant on a special episode of the BBC's University Challenge, representing his alma mater, Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Filmography Film +YearTitleFunctioned asNotesDirectorExec.Producer1980The Awakening1981Bad Blood1985Dance with a StrangerThe Good Father1987Amazing Grace and Chuck1988Soursweet1991Enchanted April1992Into the West1994Four Weddings and a Funeral1995An Awfully Big Adventure1997Donnie Brasco1999Pushing Tin2003Mona Lisa Smile2005Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire2007Love in the Time of Cholera2010Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time2012Great Expectations2018The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie SocietyTBAMy DuchessIn production
Executive producer only +YearTitleDirectorNotes1997Photographing FairiesNick Willing1999200 CigarettesRisa Bramon GarciaBest Laid PlansMike Barker2000High FidelityStephen FrearsTrafficSteven Soderbergh2003I Capture the CastleTim Fywell2014Enchanted Kingdom 3DPatrick MorrisNeil NightingaleDocumentary
Television TV series Year(s)TitleNotes1966Coronation Street8 episodes1967The Fellows5 episodesEscape1 episode1967–81ITV Playhouse4 episodes1968Spindoe4 episodesCity '682 episodesHer Majesty's Pleasure5 episodes1969Big Breadwinner Hog6 episodesParkin's Patch2 episodes1969–70ITV Saturday Night Theatre2 episodes1970Confession2 episodesDiamond Crack Diamond1 episodeThe Adventures of Don Quick1 episode 1971The Guardians2 episodes1971–72Thirty-Minute Theatre2 episodesBudgie6 episodes1972The Man from Haven1972–78Play for Today6 episodes1973Love Story2 episodesHadleigh2 episodesLate Night Theatre3 episodesWessex Tales1 episode1974Childhood1 episodeLate Night Drama2 episodes1975BBC2 Playhouse1 episodeComedy Premiere1 episode1976Red Letter Day1 episodeSecond City Firsts1 episode1977The Sunday Drama1 episode 1978BBC2 Play of the Week1 episode1989Smith and Jones in Small Doses1 episode1993The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles2 episodes2019One Red Nose Day and a WeddingTV Short
Executive producer only Year(s)NameNotes2003The Branch2004–06Huff 16 episodesTV movies Sharon (1964) (Documentary) Comedy Workshop: Love and Maud Carver (1964) The Kindness of Strangers (1967) Them Down There (1968) The Visitors (1968) The Gamekeeper (1968) 69 Murder – The Blood Relation (1968) Blood Relations (1969) Arthur Wants You for a Sunbeam (1970) Mrs. Mouse, Are You Within? (1971) Big Soft Nelly Mrs. Mouse (1971) Baa Baa Black Sheep (1974) The Gift of Friendship (1974) The Boundary (1975) The Midas Connection (1975) Lost Yer Tongue? (1975) Of the Fields, Lately (1976) The Man in the Iron Mask (1977) The Fosdyke Saga (1977) Little Girls Don't (1978) Blood Feud (1983) Birth of a Nation (1983) The Whole Hog (1989) Common Ground (1990) Jo (2002) (Also producer) The Interestings (2016)
Unrealized projects Year Title and description 1990s Old Friends, a film written by Mark Andrus about a curmudgeon who forms a family with a waitress and a gay artist Phenomenon High Fidelity A film adaptation of A. S. Byatt's novel Possession written by Don Macpherson A film adaptation of Peter Guralnick's novel Last Train to Memphis starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Elvis Presley Best Laid Plans An untitled black comedy written by Bob Comfort A remake of the 1960 film The Grass Is Greener Shanghai 2000s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days starring Gwyneth Paltrow The Poetess, a film written by Will Davies about a romance between a female poet and a Cambridge don The Girl with the Pearl Earring starring Kate Hudson and Ralph Fiennes Runaway Jury starring Will Smith A film adaptation of Esther Vilar's novel The Seven Fires of Mademoiselle written by Randi Mayem Singer Jo, an unaired TV pilot about a mother and daughter who run a veterinary hospital starring Andie MacDowell An untitled Western written by John Milius set in post-revolution Mexico Mrs. Darwin, a "period romance" written by Tim Rose Price about Emma Darwin's relationship with her husband Charles Alibi Club A film adaptation of Len Deighton's novel Bomber written by Leigh Jackson The Constant Gardener An untitled one-hour TV pilot for ABC and Touchstone Television A film adaptation of John Masefield's novel The Box of Delights written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce The Lone Ranger 2010s A film adaptation of Alan Cowell's novel The Terminal Spy co-written with David Scarpa A film adaptation of Ben Macintyre's novel Agent Zigzag written by Mark Bomback and Rowan Joffé A film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Dombey and Son An untitled fantasy film about Odysseus' journey back from Troy A film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies A film adaptation of Ian McEwan's novella On Chesil Beach Reykjavík, a historical drama about the Reykjavík Summit written by Kevin Hood starring Michael Douglas and Christoph Waltz A film adaptation of John Wyndham's novel The Day of the Triffids written by Neil Cross The Comedian The One and Only Ivan 2020s A film adaptation of Henry James' novel The Ambassadors written by Janet Dulin Jones Gramercy Park, a TV series written by Janet Dulin Jones starring Millie Brady, Brian Cox, Gabriel Byrne and Mira Sorvino A film adaptation of Rumer Godden's novel China Court written by Brian Kinsey
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