Mikael Håfström

Biography

Jan Mikael Håfström (born 1960 in Lund, Sweden) is a Swedish film and television director and screenwriter. Over a career that began in Swedish television, he moved into American studio filmmaking with thrillers and horror films, making him one of the few Swedish directors to work regularly in both industries.

He studied film at Stockholm University and then at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He started out in Swedish television as an assistant director and writer before directing several programmes for the channel. Through the 1990s he worked on series and television films, many of them crime and suspense stories.

His breakthrough in Hollywood came with Derailed (2005), a thriller starring Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen. Earlier, in Sweden, he had directed and written Evil (2003), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Two years later he made 1408 (2007), a psychological horror film with John Cusack based on a Stephen King short story. Its worldwide gross of about 131 million dollars made it the biggest commercial success of his career.

In 2011 he directed The Rite, an exorcism thriller starring Anthony Hopkins and based on Matt Baglio's book. He reunited with Cusack on Shanghai, which premiered at the 2010 Shanghai International Film Festival. In 2013 he released Escape Plan, with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. His style moves between psychological suspense, action and classic horror.

His legacy is that of a dependable craftsman who has bridged the Swedish and American industries. More recently he has been attached to science fiction projects such as Slingshot, though his best-known work remains his thrillers and his Stephen King adaptations.

Key films

• Evil (2003): directed and written, and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
• Derailed (2005): his Hollywood debut, a thriller with Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen.
• 1408 (2007): adaptation of a Stephen King story starring John Cusack.
• The Rite (2011): exorcism thriller with Anthony Hopkins.
• Escape Plan (2013): action film with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.