Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips is a prominent American film director and writer, known for shaping the landscape of modern comedy. Born on December 20, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York, Phillips developed a passion for film at a young age, heavily influenced by the raunchy comedies of the 1970s and 1980s. He gained recognition with films such as *Road Trip* (2000), *Old School* (2003), and the monumental *The Hangover* trilogy (2009–2013), which collectively established him as a major figure in R-rated comedy. Phillips also ventured into darker themes with his critically acclaimed film *Joker* (2019), which explores the complex origin story of the iconic DC character, earning him the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Despite the commercial success of his films, Phillips's career has been characterized by a mix of critical acclaim and controversy, particularly regarding his earlier documentary works. He continues to innovate within the film industry, with upcoming projects such as *Joker: Folie à Deux* (2024) that promise to expand on his exploration of complex narratives. Phillips's impact on the genre is evident through both his box office successes and the cult following of some of his earlier works, making him a significant figure in contemporary cinema.
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Todd Phillips
Director
- Born: December 20, 1970
- Place of Birth: New York, New York
Contribution: Todd Phillips is a film director and writer best known for his R-rated comedies Road Trip (2000), Old School (2003), and The Hangover (2009), as well as the thriller Joker (2019) and its sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux (2024).
Background
Todd (Bunzl) Phillips was born on December 20, 1970, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City; his family later moved to Long Island, and he was raised in the town of Huntington. As a youth, he was obsessed with bawdy comedies from the 1970s and 1980s, such as Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and Just One of the Guys (1985). When he became a filmmaker himself, these films had a significant influence on his own work.
His love of movies motivated him to enter New York University Film School in New York City. During his junior year, Phillips began working on a documentary about infamous punk musician GG Allin, called Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies (1994). Phillips was enthralled by Allin’s provocative persona and antics, which Phillips believed made Allin a perfect documentary subject. He could not afford to finish the documentary and continue to attend school, so he decided to drop out.
While Phillips was working on the film in post-production, Allin overdosed on heroin and died. Phillips shot additional footage at Allin’s funeral to include in the documentary. Hated was released in a small number of theaters but would go on to be one of the highest grossing student films of its time.
Career
After Hated, Phillips worked with his filmmaking partner Andre Gurland to direct the explicit documentary Frat House (1998) for the television network Home Box Office (HBO). The film focuses on two college fraternities and the harsh, oftentimes brutal, hazing techniques performed on new pledges. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998, where it won the Grand Jury Prize in the documentary category.
Initially produced to be part of the channel’s America Undercover series, HBO refused to air the documentary following allegations by the subjects that some of the hazing rituals were staged. In particular, there are scenes where Phillips and Gurland take part in hazing rituals that many argued were phony. Many subjects also protested that they were drunk when they signed the release forms. Phillips denies these claims, but Frat House has never aired on HBO.
Phillips then did some commercial work, directing a Pepsi commercial starring comedian Tom Green. Around this time he met renowned comedy filmmaker Ivan Reitman, who helped Phillips transition to narrative features with his first film, Road Trip (2000). The film, starring Tom Green, is a raunchy comedy like the ones Phillips consumed in his youth. Although critics gave the film average reviews, it performed well at the box office.
While working on Road Trip, Phillips was also producing and directing the documentary film Bittersweet Motel (2000) about the cult jam band Phish. The film was a hit with Phish’s legions of fans.
For his next feature, Phillips continued to pay homage to the films of his childhood with Old School (2003), a crass comedy about three men in their thirties who decide to start a fraternity. Thanks in part to popular Saturday Night Live comedian Will Ferrell, the film was a huge success. While it did not make as much money theatrically as Road Trip, critics received Old School more positively.
Phillips stuck with comedy for his next film, this time helming the movie remake of the popular 1970s police comedy show Starsky & Hutch (1975–79). Despite the star power of comedic actors Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, Starsky & Hutch (2004) received poor reviews from critics. It did manage to bring in $170 million in theaters, which made it his most lucrative film up to that point. Phillips’s next film, School for Scoundrels (2006), was both critically and financially unsuccessful.
He bounced back with his next film, The Hangover (2009), about three friends who travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a disastrous bachelor party weekend. With a worldwide gross of over $450 million, it established Phillips as a blockbuster comedy filmmaker. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and won the Golden Globe Award for best motion picture for a musical or comedy.
He followed up in 2010 with Due Date, reuniting with The Hangover star Zach Galifianakis. The film did well in theaters but was poorly reviewed by critics. Shortly after Due Date finished filming, Phillips began production on The Hangover II. This sequel was released on May 26, 2011, and broke the record for a midnight opening of an R-rated film. Phillips followed up with The Hangover III in 2013, which did not fare as well in theaters as the previous two. Many critics argued that Phillips was rehashing the same jokes in each Hangover film. All three Hangover films maintain Phillips’s consistent theme—going all the way back to Frat House—of male bonding and what men will go through to fit into a group.
In 2016, Phillips began to move away from pure comedy with the biographical crime comedy War Dogs, starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller. The film, which is loosely based on a true story, follows two men who win a $300 million contract to arm American allies in Afghanistan. He next directed the crime thriller Joker, which premiered in 2019. Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular comic book villain, the film depicts the twisted origin story of the Joker’s alter ego, Arthur Fleck, and his descent into madness and crime. Joker received mixed critical reviews; however, it won the Golden Lion for Best Film at its premier at the Venice Film Festival. Phillips's next project was a Joker sequel called Joker: Folie à Deux. In this 2024 film, Joker, institutionalized at Arkham Asylum, meets Harley Quinn and continues his villainous ascent.
Impact
Throughout the ups and downs of his career, it remains clear that Phillips knows how to direct comedies that pack theaters. His Hangover trilogy contains some of the highest-grossing R-rated comedies of all time, and many of his other works have found regular rotation on cable television. His two earliest films, both documentaries and one unreleased, have garnered strong cult followings.
Personal Life
Phillips has never been married. In May 2013 he won a ten-year restraining order against a woman he had been involved with in 2011.
Bibliography
Bowles, Scott. “Director Phillips Has Another ‘Due Date’ with the Guys.” USA Today 5 Nov. 2010: 2d. Print.
Daly, Steve, and Matt Haber. “Hazed and Confused.” Entertainment Weekly 8 Jan. 1999: 19–20. Print.
Horn, John. “Todd Phillips Keeps ‘em Laughing.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2011. Web. 24 July 2013.
Lang, Brent. "Todd Phillips Tells All on Making ‘Joker 2’: Musical Numbers, Method Acting and Joaquin Phoenix’s Broadway Dream That Started It All." Variety, 20 Aug. 2024, variety.com/2024/film/features/todd-phillips-joker-2-movie-interview-1236111122/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Phillips, Todd. Interview by Julie Miller. “Todd Phillips on The Hangover Part III, How He Responded to Critics of Part II, and the Uncanny Similarity Between Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell.” Vanity Fair. Condé Nast Digital, 22 May 2013. Web. 24 July 2013.
Phillips, Todd. Interview by Todd Gilchrist. “Hangover 3 Interview: Director Todd Phillips Says There Will Never be Another Hangover Movie.” Screen Crush. Townsquare Media, 24 May 2013. Web. 23 July 2013.
"Todd Phillips." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0680846. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.