Peter Briggs(I)
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
A former assistant cameraman, Briggs sold his spec script "Alien vs Predator" to Twentieth Century Fox in the 1990s within a day of hitting the market via his then-agent at William Morris. Prior to this, Briggs had been working developing Science Fiction material for Ileen Maisel at the UK arm of Paramount Pictures.
In the early part of his career, Briggs set-up the "Highlander" television show with producer Bill Panzer and Gaumont producer Marla Ginsberg.
Amongst theatrical projects he was subsequently been hired to contribute work to are an abandoned "Young Lara Croft" animated show for Passion Pictures; a Carolco version of "Judge Dredd" for director Tony Scott, with Arnold Schwarzenegger attached; "Freddy vs Jason" for Producers Mike DeLuca and Robert Shaye at New Line Cinema; a "Hellraiser" reboot for Bob Weinstein at Miramax/Dimension; a "Highlander 5" project also for Miramax/Dimension; a period adaption of "War Of The Worlds" at Paramount Pictures (first with Kenneth Branagh, later with Tom Cruise), a children's book adaption for Radar Pictures; an adaption of the Japanese "Lupin III" anime for Oliver Stone's producer A. Kitman Ho; and a Stan Lee superhero project called "Foreverman" with producer Robert Evans at Paramount Pictures.
In 2004, Briggs was the credited co-writer with Guillermo Del Toro on the film "Hellboy", which opened number 1 theatrically at the box-office.
Subsequently, Briggs partnered with "Mummy" franchise producer James Jacks on what would have been his directorial debut (a Roman supernatural movie named "Mortis Rex"); and similarly with "Star Wars" producer Gary Kurtz on a supernatural WW2 tale named "Panzer 88". Both films were being made in conjunction with Sir Richard Taylor and Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop in New Zealand, but both films were put on hiatus following the unexpected deaths of Jacks (a coronary) and Kurtz (through cancer). (Briggs also contributed an episode of Weta Workshop's "Thunderbirds Are Go" TV show for the British programmer ITV.) Briggs is currently seeking new producing partners for both projects.
Outside of filmmaking, Briggs has contributed feature pieces to the Los Angeles Times. During the Covid pandemic, he was published as a novelist by Penguin/Random House; and wrote a British "D-Day" comic book alongside comics legend Grant Morrison.
Briggs has also lectured on screenwriting to upcoming writers in Los Angeles, London, and New Zealand. When time allows, he works with new writers both in private consultancy, and through the Script Reader Pro consultancy firm in Los Angeles.
Briggs' screenwriting career has been the subject of countless magazine articles (amongst them "FHM", "Starlog", "Sci-Fi Universe", "Wired", "Fangoria", "Cinefantastique", "Film Review", "Cinescape"), in addition to documentaries and podcasts. Some of his unrealized projects have featured in books such as Denny Martin Flinn's "How Not To Write A Screenplay" (ISBN-10 1580650155, Lone Eagle, 1999), "The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made" by Chris Gore (ISBN-10 031220082X, St. Martin's Griffin, 1999); and David Hughes' "The 50 Greatest Science Fiction Movies Never Made" (ISBN-10 1845767551, Titan Books, 2004: 320 pages.) Briggs' aborted 2016 "Hellboy" spin-off "Silverlance" for Universal Pictures was featured in the Joshua Hull book "Underexposed! The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made" (ISBN-10 1419744690, Abrams Books, 2021)
In the early part of his career, Briggs set-up the "Highlander" television show with producer Bill Panzer and Gaumont producer Marla Ginsberg.
Amongst theatrical projects he was subsequently been hired to contribute work to are an abandoned "Young Lara Croft" animated show for Passion Pictures; a Carolco version of "Judge Dredd" for director Tony Scott, with Arnold Schwarzenegger attached; "Freddy vs Jason" for Producers Mike DeLuca and Robert Shaye at New Line Cinema; a "Hellraiser" reboot for Bob Weinstein at Miramax/Dimension; a "Highlander 5" project also for Miramax/Dimension; a period adaption of "War Of The Worlds" at Paramount Pictures (first with Kenneth Branagh, later with Tom Cruise), a children's book adaption for Radar Pictures; an adaption of the Japanese "Lupin III" anime for Oliver Stone's producer A. Kitman Ho; and a Stan Lee superhero project called "Foreverman" with producer Robert Evans at Paramount Pictures.
In 2004, Briggs was the credited co-writer with Guillermo Del Toro on the film "Hellboy", which opened number 1 theatrically at the box-office.
Subsequently, Briggs partnered with "Mummy" franchise producer James Jacks on what would have been his directorial debut (a Roman supernatural movie named "Mortis Rex"); and similarly with "Star Wars" producer Gary Kurtz on a supernatural WW2 tale named "Panzer 88". Both films were being made in conjunction with Sir Richard Taylor and Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop in New Zealand, but both films were put on hiatus following the unexpected deaths of Jacks (a coronary) and Kurtz (through cancer). (Briggs also contributed an episode of Weta Workshop's "Thunderbirds Are Go" TV show for the British programmer ITV.) Briggs is currently seeking new producing partners for both projects.
Outside of filmmaking, Briggs has contributed feature pieces to the Los Angeles Times. During the Covid pandemic, he was published as a novelist by Penguin/Random House; and wrote a British "D-Day" comic book alongside comics legend Grant Morrison.
Briggs has also lectured on screenwriting to upcoming writers in Los Angeles, London, and New Zealand. When time allows, he works with new writers both in private consultancy, and through the Script Reader Pro consultancy firm in Los Angeles.
Briggs' screenwriting career has been the subject of countless magazine articles (amongst them "FHM", "Starlog", "Sci-Fi Universe", "Wired", "Fangoria", "Cinefantastique", "Film Review", "Cinescape"), in addition to documentaries and podcasts. Some of his unrealized projects have featured in books such as Denny Martin Flinn's "How Not To Write A Screenplay" (ISBN-10 1580650155, Lone Eagle, 1999), "The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made" by Chris Gore (ISBN-10 031220082X, St. Martin's Griffin, 1999); and David Hughes' "The 50 Greatest Science Fiction Movies Never Made" (ISBN-10 1845767551, Titan Books, 2004: 320 pages.) Briggs' aborted 2016 "Hellboy" spin-off "Silverlance" for Universal Pictures was featured in the Joshua Hull book "Underexposed! The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made" (ISBN-10 1419744690, Abrams Books, 2021)
