James Mangold

James Mangold Bio

James Allen Mangold (born December 16, 1963) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Noted for his versatility in tackling a range of genres, Mangold made his debut as a film director with Heavy (1995), and gained recognition for the films Cop Land (1997), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Identity (2003), Walk the Line (2005), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Knight and Day (2010), and two films in the X-Men franchise with The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017), the latter of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He then directed the sports drama film Ford v Ferrari (2019), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and directed and co-wrote Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), the fifth and final installment in the Indiana Jones series. For the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (2024), Mangold was once again nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, in addition to his first nomination for Best Director.

Early Life and Background

James Mangold was born in New York City in 1963, and is the son of artists Robert Mangold and Sylvia Plimack Mangold. He was raised in Washingtonville, New York, in the Hudson Valley and graduated from Washingtonville High School. His mother is Jewish, and he describes himself as “half-Jewish.” He attended the California Institute of the Arts film/video program where he studied under Alexander Mackendrick. During Mangold’s third year, Mackendrick suggested that he should study at CalArts School of Theater as an actor, alongside his regular film studies. While at CalArts, he directed the promotional documentary Future View for Disney and General Motors.

Path to Hollywood

In 1985, Mangold secured a writer/director deal at The Walt Disney Company. He wrote a television movie and co-wrote the animated feature Oliver & Company. A few years later, Mangold moved to New York and applied to Columbia University’s film school, where he graduated with an MFA in film. While there, he studied under film director Miloš Forman who helped him develop the scripts for Heavy and Cop Land. He has worked as a feature writer and director since 1995, when his first feature, the independent film Heavy, won the best directing prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

James Mangold Career

Early Career (1985–2010)

Mangold subsequently wrote and directed Cop Land (1997), starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta; Girl, Interrupted, which won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1999 for Angelina Jolie; Kate & Leopold, starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, for which Jackman was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor in a musical or comedy in 2001, and the 2003 thriller Identity which starred John Cusack. In 2005, Mangold co-wrote (with Gill Dennis), produced (under his production banner, Tree Line Film), and directed Walk the Line, a film about the young life of singer-songwriter Johnny Cash and his relationship with June Carter Cash. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, it was released on November 18, 2005, to positive reviews and grossed $187 million worldwide. It was nominated for five Oscars and Witherspoon won Best Actress for her performance as June Carter Cash. Mangold also appeared as an actor in The Sweetest Thing as a doctor and love interest to Christina Applegate as well as in his own Kate & Leopold playing a movie director.

Breakthrough (2013–present)

In June 2011, Mangold was hired, initially just to direct the X-Men movie The Wolverine. Along with screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie, Scott Frank, and Mark Bomback, Mangold also adapted the screenplay based upon Frank Miller and Chris Claremont’s Japanese Wolverine saga and entered production in Japan and Australia in July 2012. On release, it was a box office success, ending up with a worldwide gross of $414,828,246 with a budget of $120 million. Following the box office success and moderate critical response to The Wolverine, Mangold signed on to write the story and direct the sequel, Logan (2017). The film marked Mangold and Jackman’s third collaboration. Scott Frank was hired to return as co-screenwriter, working as a team with Mangold and Michael Green. The film incorporated elements from Mark Millar’s Old Man Logan run on the comics. Mangold has stated that the plot primarily focuses on character development, rather than superhero spectacle. Logan was a commercial success, and received high praise for its gritty approach on the titular character and emotional depth. Often called one of the greatest superhero films of all time, the movie also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, becoming the first live-action superhero movie to be nominated for Adapted Screenplay, as well as Mangold’s first Oscar nomination. In February 2018, it was announced that Mangold was set to direct a film about the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Christian Bale and Matt Damon starring as Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby respectively, and Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller writing the script. The film, titled Ford v Ferrari, was released in November 2019 to critical acclaim and became a box office success, grossing $225 million worldwide. The film received 4 nominations including Best Picture, with two wins for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing at the 92nd Academy Awards. In February 2020, it was announced that Mangold was in talks to direct the then-untitled fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, later revealed to be titled Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, taking over for Steven Spielberg, who directed the first four films in the franchise and instead served as one of the executive producers. Filming began in the United Kingdom in June 2021, and wrapped in February 2022. The film was released on June 30, 2023. In early 2020, Mangold was announced to direct the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown with Searchlight Pictures distributing, starring Timothée Chalamet. Despite production delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Mangold committing to Indiana Jones, Chalamet told Variety in November 2022 that he was still preparing for the role and that “the winds that are blowing are blowing in a very positive direction.” In April 2023, Mangold confirmed that the film would likely begin production in August of that year, before plans were suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming eventually began in March 2024 and wrapped in time for a December release. In February 2023, Mangold was reported by The Hollywood Reporter to be in early talks to write and direct a film based on the Swamp Thing, as part of James Gunn’s and Peter Safran’s newly announced “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters” film slate for the DC Universe, after the releases of his Indiana Jones film and Bob Dylan biopic. Two months later in April, Mangold confirmed that he had been hired to write and direct a Swamp Thing film, with Gunn soon confirming that he approached Mangold to do the film upon charting the DCU’s storylines, describing the film as a passion project of Mangold’s. In April 2023, during Star Wars Celebration Europe IV, Lucasfilm announced Mangold’s involvement as director of a future Star Wars film whose story “will go back to the dawn of the Jedi” and explore the origins of The Force, set around 25,000 years before the events of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In August 2025, it was announced that Mangold would reunite with Chalamet for a film called High Side. The film will be written by Jaime Oliveira and distributed by Paramount Pictures. In September 2025, it was announced that Mangold had secured a deal to “develop, direct and produce feature film projects” with Paramount.

James Mangold Award Nominations

Throughout his career, James Mangold has received multiple nominations for prestigious awards, including Academy Awards for his work in films such as Logan and Ford v Ferrari.