James Gray (born April 14, 1969) is an American filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter. Since his feature debut Little Odessa in 1994, he has made eight other features including We Own the Night (2007), Two Lovers (2008), The Immigrant (2013), The Lost City of Z (2016), Ad Astra (2019), Armageddon Time (2022), and Paper Tiger (2026). Six of his films have competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Early life
Gray was born in New York City and grew up in the neighborhood of Flushing. He is of Russian Jewish descent, with grandparents from Ostropol, Western Ukraine, which at that time was a part of the USSR. The original family name was "Grayevsky" or "Greyzerstein." His father was once an electronics contractor. Gray attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where his student film, Cowboys and Angels, helped him get an agent and the attention of producer Paul Webster, who encouraged him to write a script which he could produce.
Career
1990s
In 1994, at age 25, Gray debuted his first feature film Little Odessa, starring Tim Roth as a hit man confronted by his younger brother upon returning to his hometown, "Little Odessa," a section of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The film won the Silver Lion at the 51st Venice International Film Festival.
In 1998, Gray began shooting his second film, The Yards, a crime drama set in the commuter rail yards in New York City. The film was released theatrically by Miramax two years later on October 12, 2000.
2000s
In March 2006, Gray began production on his third film, We Own the Night, which he had been wanting to shoot since the early 2000s. Set in 1988, it stars Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg as two brothers, one a nightclub manager with ties to the mob, and the former a police detective who wages an all-out war on drugs. The film screened in competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving widely divergent reviews from international critics, and was released theatrically in the U.S. in October.
After that film's success, Gray was given creative freedom for Two Lovers which was loosely based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s "White Nights". The film made its premiere at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
2010s
Gray co-wrote the screenplay for Guillaume Canet's film Blood Ties, a remake of the French thriller Rivals. This collaboration led Gray to meeting Canet's partner Marion Cotillard, whom he would cast in his next film The Immigrant. It tells the story of a Polish nurse who is separated from her sister at Ellis Island and forced into prostitution by a theater manager, played by Joaquin Phoenix. The film, which was previously titled Lowlife and The Nightingale, marked Gray's fourth collaboration with Phoenix. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2015, Gray directed a television commercial for Chanel men's fragrance, Bleu de Chanel, starring Gaspard Ulliel. It was filmed in Los Angeles and released on February 5, 2015.
In October 2016, Gray's film The Lost City of Z premiered at the New York Film Festival. The film, based on the book by David Grann, depicts the life of explorer Percy Fawcett, played by Charlie Hunnam.
At the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, it was reported that Gray would next direct his long-gestated sci-fi space epic Ad Astra. Brad Pitt signed on to star in April 2017 and the rest of the cast joined later that year. Ad Astra premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2019 and was theatrically released in the United States on September 20, 2019 by 20th Century Fox. Gray later stated that the film that was released to theaters was not his cut.
2020s
On June 16, 2020, it was officially confirmed that Gray's next film, titled Armageddon Time, would be a coming-of-age drama loosely based on his childhood memories, with Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins and Jeremy Strong cast in the film. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2022 and was released in the United States on October 28, 2022 by Focus Features.
In November 2024, it was reported that Gray had set his next film, Paper Tiger, described as a "blue chip crime-drama-thriller" following two brothers who, while in pursuit of the American Dream, become "entangled in a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true." Filming commenced in 2025, with financing from Leone Film Group.
Unrealized and upcoming projects
After Little Odessa, Gray was offered the script for The Devil's Own by Brad Pitt, a friend of his. Gray turned it down and the film was ultimately directed by Alan J. Pakula. He also passed up the opportunity to direct Good Will Hunting.
In 1997, Gray was in negotiations with producer Art Linson to direct the biopic Killer Spy, about CIA agent Aldrich Ames, based on the novel Betrayal. Kevin Spacey was being talked about for the starring role of Ames.
In 1999, Gray was in talks to direct Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston in Waking Up in Reno for Miramax. The film was made three years later but without the involvement of Gray, Pitt or Aniston.
It was reported in 2000 that Gray would direct and co-write Edgardo Mortara, a film based on the infamous 1858 kidnapping of the 6-year-old Jewish boy by the Papal police. Gray was to collaborate with writer Rob Eshman on the screenplay.
In 2003, it was rumored that Gray had written an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novelette "Paycheck". Prior to John Woo being selected, Brett Ratner was in talks to direct. A film was released later that year, but Gray had no involvement.
In 2006, Gray was planning to direct Alphabet City, based on the 1995 novel by Steven Knight, who also penned the first draft of the script.
In 2010, Gray was hired to rewrite the script of the Charlie Hunnam-scripted Vlad, which would have been a period action film based on the story of Dracula. Anthony Mandler had been attached to direct the film.
In January 2011, it was reported that Gray would be directing a film adaptation of Mark Greaney's novel The Gray Man written by Adam Cozad. The project was first set up at New Regency. Brad Pitt was initially cast to star, but by October 2015, he and Gray were no longer involved with the film.
Opera
In 2019, it was reported that Gray was to stage Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, his first opera, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris that November. French fashion designer Christian Lacroix did the costumes for the production.
Personal life
Gray married Alexandra Dickson in 2005. The couple have three children.
Favorite films
In 2022, Gray participated in the Sight and Sound film polls. Held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, contemporary directors were asked to select ten films of their choice. Gray chose the following, in no order:
