Andy Muschietti

Andrés Walter Muschietti (born 26 August 1973) is an Argentine film director and screenwriter who had his breakthrough with the 2013 film Mama. He gained further recognition for directing both films in the It film series, the 2017 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel and its 2019 sequel, It Chapter Two. In 2023, he directed the DC Extended Universe film The Flash.

Early life
Muschietti was born and raised in Vicente López, Buenos Aires and has one older sister, Barbara Muschietti. Both he and his sister studied at Fundación Universidad del Cine. He worked as a storyboard artist during his early years in the film industry. He is of Italian-Argentine ancestry.

Career
In 2013, Muschietti directed his debut film, the supernatural horror Mama, which he co-wrote with Neil Cross and his sister Barbara Muschietti, with the latter also acting as producer. It was based on Muschietti's three-minute short film Mamá, which attracted Guillermo del Toro, who stated that it had the "scariest" scenes he had "ever seen." The short convinced del Toro to executive produce the feature-length film, which starred Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse, and was released by Universal Pictures on 18 January 2013. The film had had a budget of $15 million, and grossed more than $146 million.

In September 2013, Universal hired Muschietti for a reboot of The Mummy franchise, but he left the project in May 2014 due to creative differences with Jon Spaihts' draft of the script.

In July 2015, after the departure of Cary Joji Fukunaga, Muschietti was hired by New Line Cinema to direct It, the two-part adaptation of the Stephen King novel. Barbara produced it, along with Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg. The film was released in two chapters in 2017 and 2019.

In July 2019, Muschietti entered into negotiations to direct The Flash, a film set in the DC Extended Universe, from a screenplay by Christina Hodson; his sister, Barbara, was set to serve as a producer. Muschetti was the fifth director to have been attached to The Flash (Seth Grahame-Smith, Rick Famuyiwa, John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein had previously been attached to it at various points). In August 2019, Muschietti confirmed that The Flash would be his next project, following the release of It Chapter Two.

In April 2021, Andy and Barbara Muschietti formed their own production company, called Double Dream, with The Flash serving as the company’s first project.

The Flash had its world premiere on 25 April 2023 at CinemaCon; this was followed by a wide release on 16 June 2023.

In June 2023, Muschietti was reported to be the studio's top choice to direct The Brave and the Bold for the DC Universe. Muschietti would not formally commit to the film until a script materialized after the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike concluded. Muschietti was confirmed to sign on later in the month. Later that month, he, Barbara and their production company Double Dream signed parallel three-year first-look deals with Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television Group., and Max.

Previously announced projects
Since 2013, Muschietti has been reported to be involved in, or under consideration for, several other projects that have yet to come to fruition and whose status has not been publicly updated.

In February 2013, Universal Pictures announced Muschietti would direct the film adaptation of the Josh Malerman novel Bird Box, which Scott Stuber, Chris Morgan and Barbara would produce, with Eric Heisserer set to write the script.

In January 2014, Muschietti was reportedly among front-runners to direct a He-Man film for Warner Bros. Pictures, a remake of Masters of the Universe. In June 2014, Deadline reported that Muschietti was on the shortlist of directors to direct a sequel to the fantasy film Snow White and the Huntsman for Universal.

In September 2014, Sony Pictures tapped Muschietti to direct the film adaptation of Shadow of the Colossus after Josh Trank left due to a commitment to an upcoming Star Wars spin-off. Barbara was set to co-produce the film with Kevin Misher, and Seth Lochhead was set to write the screenplay.

In February 2015, Deadline reported that Sony was looking to hire Muschietti to direct a live-action Robotech project, with Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton attached to produce, and Michael B. Gordon to serve as screenwriter.

In March 2015, Plan B Entertainment optioned the film rights to Stephen King's short story "The Jaunt" from the Skeleton Crew collection, with Muschietti to direct and Barbara attached as producer.

In September 2017, Deadline reported that Muschietti was attached to a film version of the book Dracul.

In December 2017, it was announced that Muschietti was in talks to direct the film adaptation of the sci-fi novel The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag, with the Russo brothers producing alongside Andy and Barbara Muschietti. In December 2020, it was announced that the Russos would now direct the film, with the Muschiettis still involved as executive producers.

In October 2018, it was announced that Muschietti would direct a Warner Bros. live-action film reboot of Attack on Titan. In November 2023, he left the film.

In August 2019, it was announced that Muschietti would produce a film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Roadwork, with Pablo Trapero directing.

In January 2020, it was announced that Muschietti will direct a remake of The Howling for Netflix.

Filmography
Short film

Feature film
Director
 * Mama (2013) (Also writer)
 * It (2017)
 * It Chapter Two (2019)
 * The Flash (2023)

Executive producer
 * The Electric State (2024)

Acting roles

Other credits

Television
Executive producer