Jon Watts (born June 28, 1981) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming and its sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home. He also directed and co-wrote the horror film Clown, the thriller film Cop Car, and directed numerous episodes of the parody television news series Onion News Network.
Biography[]
Watts was born and raised in Fountain, Colorado where he attended Fountain-Fort Carson High School. He studied film at New York University.
Before directing movies, Watts directed commercials for production company Park Pictures.
He is married to former talent agent and producer Dianne McGunigle.
Film Career[]
Watts' film career started with the short Clay Pride: Being Clay in America. A claymation film, it is a satire of films about gay issues, with the main character, Steve Thompson, coming out as "clay". Over the next decade, Watts would continue to work in short films, as well as directing several music videos for various artists, including Fatboy Slim, Death Cab for Cutie, and TV on the Radio.
Watts' feature directorial debut was the 2014 horror film, Clown. Watts and his friends had made a fake trailer for a film about a father turning into a killer clown after trying on an old costume he finds in his basement. After uploading the trailer to YouTube, Watts was approached by Eli Roth with an offer to produce a feature version.
Watts' next film was the 2015 thriller, Cop Car. The film is about two young boys who steal an abandoned police car and are pursued by its murderous owner, a Sheriff played by Kevin Bacon. In an interview, Watts revealed that the idea for the film came from a dream he had when he was a child.
Watts then directed Spider-Man: Homecoming. Watts was so determined to be the director of the film that he admitted that he had "bothered" Marvel by sending them clips of a fake trailer he made for a Spider-Man movie. He admits that he was very surprised and did not know he was going to get the job until the last moment.
Watts directed the film's 2019 sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home. Watts reportedly became increasingly devoted to the franchise, even starting his own extensive collection of rare spiders.
Filmography[]
Feature Films[]
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Clown | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2015 | Cop Car | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2017 | Spider-Man: Homecoming | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2019 | Spider-Man: Far From Home | Yes | No | No |
| 2021 | Spider-Man: No Way Home | Yes | No | No |
| 2021 | Untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home Sequel | Yes | No | No |
Television[]
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Onion News Network | Yes | Yes | No |
Director: 10 episodes Co-executive producer: 11 episodes |
| 2011 | The Fuzz | Yes | Yes | Yes | TV pilot not picked up as a series |
| 2012 | Eugene! | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Acting Roles[]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | I Can See You | Jake |
| 2015 | Creative Control | Commercial Director |
Other Credits[]
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Sexy Beast | Operator, photogenics unit |
| 2011 | Natural Selection | Associate producer |
| 2012 | Robot & Frank | Thanks credit |
Quotes[]
- "I’m not really sure what happened, I had never been to Sundance before. I was nervous because that was the first time we were showing the movie to an actual crowd. So I was dealing with that. I mean, Sundance is like a genre. At least it was to me growing up and in film school: it’s like a Sundance kind of a movie. But [Marvel] got to see Cop Car and they really liked it. But yeah, this trend is interesting. Now, I’ve got to make a slightly more expensive version. It’s an opportunity to just have a bigger canvas instead of just scrapping together any story you can."
- "I think that’s a little philosophical. I mean, I still have so many movies that I want to make, and [Spider-Man] just gets to become one of them. That’s how I think of it. I still have a lot of ideas I want to make, in addition to this, and I don’t think it’s a one-way path in that sense."
- "He’s so good in that, he can be a real high school student. That’s why people love Spider-Man. He’s the most grounded, relatable of superheroes. And Tom can really do that. He captures that. And he can do a standing back-flip. He’s perfect."
- "I mean, it’s a big universe, so everyone sort of works with each other to make sure that there’s continuity and that it all fits together, it’s really exciting actually. We’re just getting started, working on the script and all that, but it’s going to be a great process."