Imagine Entertainment (USA): 35

Thirteen Lives (2022) is a biographical survival film by director and producer Ron Howard, with a screenplay by William Nicholson. The movie tells the story of the Tham Luang cave rescue, which took place in 2018. On June 23rd of that year, twelve boys from the junior football team “Wild Boars” and their assistant coach Ekkaphon Chanthawong decide to explore the Tham Luang cave after practice. When they fail to show up for a birthday party arranged by their parents, their families head to the caves. To their horror, they discover that the boys are missing and ...

The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), directed and co-written by Susanna Fogel and David Iserson, follows the story of Audrey Stockman in Los Angeles. Recently dumped by her boyfriend Drew, Audrey’s best friend and roommate Morgan Freeman encourages her to get rid of his belongings. Little does she know, Drew is actually a CIA agent being pursued by dangerous individuals. Before leaving town, Drew asks Audrey not to burn anything while he is away. At work, Audrey meets a man who turns out to be Sebastian Henshaw, revealing that he is looking for Drew who has gone missing. ...

The Dark Tower (2017), an American science fantasy Western action film directed and co-written by Nikolaj Arcel, is based on Stephen King’s novel series of the same name. Eleven-year-old Jake Chambers is plagued by visions of a mysterious warlock known as the Man in Black, who aims to destroy a Tower and bring devastation to the Universe. Opposing him is a Gunslinger. Though Jake’s mother, stepfather, and psychiatrists dismiss his visions as mere nightmares resulting from the trauma of losing his father the year before, he knows they are real. When a group of ...

American Made (2017), an action comedy film directed by Doug Liman and written by Gary Spinelli, draws inspiration from the life of Barry Seal. A former TWA pilot who later became a drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel, Seal is eventually recruited as an informant for the DEA. The CIA also takes notice of Seal’s ability to smuggle Cuban cigars into the country and enlists him to take aerial photographs of Sandinista bases in 1978. Soon, he becomes involved with Pablo Escobar’s infamous cartel, led by Jorge Ochoa and Carlos Lehder, who want a part of his ...

Inferno (2016), an American action mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by David Koepp, is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Dan Brown. Following his involvement in halting an antimatter threat at the Vatican, Harvard professor Robert Langdon wakes up in a Florence hospital with no recollection of recent events, but haunted by terrifying visions. His attending physician, Dr. Sienna Brooks, explains that his amnesia is a result of being shot in the head. A staff member warns them that police have arrived to question Langdon, but it turns ...

The historical adventure-drama film In the Heart of the Sea (2015), directed and produced by Ron Howard and written by Charles Leavitt, is based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s non-fiction book The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. This true story follows the sinking of the American whaling ship in 1820, which served as inspiration for Herman Melville’s famous novel Moby-Dick. In 1850, Melville seeks out Thomas Nickerson, the last surviving member of the ...

The biographical sports film Rush (2013) delves into the intense competition between two Formula One drivers during the 1976 motor-racing season. James Hunt, a confident and bold personality, and Niki Lauda, a methodical and precise technical genius, are both exceptional behind the wheel. They first encounter each other as rivals in 1970 at a London Formula Three race where Hunt ultimately secures victory despite both cars spinning out. Lauda secures a loan from Raiffeisen Bank in Austria to join the BRM Formula One team, where he meets teammate Clay Regazzoni for the first time. At the same time, Hesketh Racing, Hunt’s racing team, also enters Formula One. ...

The American biographical drama film, J. Edgar (2011), directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, tells the story of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover’s career. Through a non-linear narrative, the film delves into Hoover’s involvement in the creation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as well as his later efforts to protect it from perceived threats. In the present day, an aging Hoover shares these events with a group of agents he has tasked with writing a book about the Bureau’s early years. Following an assassination attempt on Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer by anarchists in 1919, Justice ...

The film, Tower Heist (2011), directed by Brett Ratner and written by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson, is based on a story by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper, and Griffin. Josh Kovaks manages The Tower, a luxurious apartment complex in New York City with Wall Street mogul Arthur Shaw living in the penthouse. As a favor to Shaw, Josh entrusts him with the hotel staff’s pension ...

The action film, Robin Hood (2010), directed by Ridley Scott, is based on the legendary character of the same name. The story takes place in 1199 AD and follows Robin Longstride, a skilled archer serving in the army of King Richard the Lionheart. Having experienced the hardships of Richard’s crusade, Robin and his fellow soldiers find themselves in a siege at Chalus Castle. Tired and disenchanted, Robin speaks honestly about the King’s leadership when asked by him and as a result, he and his comrades – Allan A’Dayle, Will Scarlett, and Little John – end up in the stocks. When King Richard ...

Angels & Demons (2009) is an American mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp, adapted from Dan Brown’s novel of the same name. Following the sudden death of Pope Pius XVI, the Catholic Church prepares for the papal conclave to elect his successor in Vatican City. During this time, Father Patrick McKenna serves as temporary ruler of the Vatican as Camerlengo. Meanwhile, scientists Father Silvano Bentivoglio and Dr. ...

Changeling (2008) is a gripping American film about a real-life mystery. Directed, produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by J. Michael Straczynski, the story is based on the tragic 1928 Wineville Chicken Coop murders in Mira Loma, California. Set in Los Angeles during the same year, the film follows Christine Collins, a single mother who returns home to find her 9-year-old son, Walter, missing. In a desperate attempt to find him, Reverend Gustav Briegleb publicizes her situation and criticizes the LAPD for their incompetence and corruption. Despite this ...

American Gangster (2007), a biographical crime film, was directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian. Set in 1968, it follows the story of Frank Lucas, who worked as the right-hand man for Ellsworth ‘Bumpy’ Johnson, a Harlem mob boss. After Johnson’s death from a heart attack, Frank delves into the heroin trade by sourcing it directly from Thailand and smuggling it into the United States through returning Vietnam War soldiers. He markets his product under the name ‘Blue Magic’, which quickly gains popularity due to ...

The mystery thriller film, The Da Vinci Code (2006), was directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman. It is based on Dan Brown’s 2003 novel of the same name. In the story, Jacques Saunière, a curator at the Louvre, is being pursued by an albino Catholic monk named Silas. Silas is determined to find the ‘keystone’ and destroy the Holy Grail. However, Saunière gives him false information before being tragically murdered. The police discover his body in a pose resembling Da Vinci’s Vitruvian ...

Inside Man (2006) is an American crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee and written by Russell Gewirtz. It centers on an elaborate bank heist-turned-hostage situation on Wall Street. In August 2005, inside a small, dimly-lit cell, Dalton Russell brags about committing the perfect bank robbery. In New York City, masked robbers seize control of a Manhattan bank, using variants of the name “Steve” as aliases and dressed in painter coveralls. They hold patrons and employees hostage and divide them into groups, rotating them among various rooms while disguised ...

Directed by Ron Howard, The Missing (2003) is a gritty American Western. Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett, the film is adapted from Thomas Eidson’s novel The Last Ride, published in 1996. Set in late 19th-century New Mexico, the story follows Samuel Jones as he seeks to reconcile with his daughter Magdalena ‘Maggie’ Gilkeson, after leaving her and her mother many years ago. However, Maggie refuses to forgive him for causing her ...

Arrested Development (2003–2019) is an American television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz that premiered on Fox in November 2003. It ran for three seasons before transitioning to Netflix, where it released two additional seasons in 2013 and 2018-2019. The show follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy and dysfunctional family, in a serialized format that incorporates handheld camera work, voice-over narration, archival photos, historical footage, and recurring jokes and phrases. Ron Howard serves as an executive producer and the omniscient narrator, making appearances as a fictionalized version of himself in later ...

Intolerable Cruelty (2003), an American romantic comedy directed by the Coen brothers, follows Donovan Donaly, a TV soap opera producer who discovers his wife Bonnie with an ex-boyfriend. After filing for divorce, Bonnie hires Miles Massey, a renowned divorce attorney known for his ‘Massey pre-nup’ which guarantees airtight prenuptial agreements. As Donaly is left bankrupt from the settlement, private investigator Gus Petch captures wealthy and married Rex Rexroth in a drunken affair with a blonde. When Gus presents the video to Marylin Rexroth, a woman infamous for marrying for money, she demands a hefty ...

Jim Gillespie directed D-Tox (2002), a thriller featuring Sylvester Stallone as FBI agent Jake Malloy. While chasing down a serial killer who targets police officers, Malloy’s former partner becomes a victim. The killer then contacts Malloy from his own home and reveals that he was seeking revenge for being pursued by Malloy in the past for a string of prostitute murders. Tragically, the killer also takes the life of Mary, Malloy’s girlfriend. Despite his efforts to apprehend the killer, it appears that he has taken his own life. Three months later, Malloy ...

8 Mile (2002) is an American drama film written by Scott Silver and directed by Curtis Hanson. Featuring Eminem in his film debut, it contains elements from the rapper’s own life story. The plot centers around Detroit artist Jimmy Smith Jr., also known as B-Rabbit. In 1995, Jimmy is a budding musician who goes by the name B-Rabbit. He comes from a low-income family living in a trailer park just outside of Detroit. To support his mother Stephanie, younger sister Lily, and Stephanie’s abusive boyfriend Greg, Jimmy ...