Adam Wingard

Biography

Adam Wingard (born December 3, 1982) is an American filmmaker who has worked as a director, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer and occasionally as an actor and composer. A graduate of Full Sail University, he began in low-budget independent cinema and later moved into horror, action and large-scale franchise work.

His first feature, the horror comedy Home Sick, starring Bill Moseley and Tiffany Shepis, led to Pop Skull, a psychotropic ghost story made on a budget of about $2,000. It premiered at the Rome Film Festival and reached American audiences through the AFI Film Festival in 2007. He followed it with A Horrible Way to Die (2010), a romantic horror film shown in the Vanguard section of the Toronto International Film Festival, and What Fun We Were Having (2011), a four-part anthology about date rape that Fantastia honored with a dedicated sidebar. That same year he co-directed Autoerotic with Joe Swanberg, a figure associated with the mumblecore movement in which Wingard himself started out.

His breakthrough with wider audiences came with You're Next (2011), a home invasion slasher that premiered in Midnight Madness at Toronto and was released by Lionsgate in 2013 to favorable reviews. He worked again with screenwriter Simon Barrett on The Guest (2014), starring Dan Stevens, which received strong acclaim after its September theatrical release. Wingard blends horror with dark humour and restless editing, a combination that carried him from modest independent projects to studio films.

He directed Blair Witch (2016), a sequel to The Blair Witch Project that drew mixed reviews. The Netflix adaptation Death Note (2017) of the manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata was met with a mixed-to-negative reception, largely over its changes from the source. His biggest commercial success came with Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), followed by Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). His legacy lies in bridging independent genre filmmaking and the blockbuster, and he remains one of the most recognisable horror voices working in the United States.

Key films

• You're Next (2011), a home invasion slasher that drew critical attention.
• The Guest (2014), an action thriller starring Dan Stevens.
• Blair Witch (2016), a found-footage sequel to The Blair Witch Project.
• Death Note (2017), a live-action Netflix adaptation of the manga.
• Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), his first major entry in the MonsterVerse.
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), the sequel to that film.