Melissa Mathison Filmography

Born:: June 3, 1960 in Los Angeles, CA
Occupation:: Associate Producer, Co-producer, Screenwriter

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Refuge

Synopsis: Filmmaker John Halpern turns his lens toward central Asia to focus on the spiritual developments that have occurred in the West following the 1959 siege on Tibet with this film, which contrasts the Western gravitation toward Buddhism with the journey of Tibetan Buddhists to seek refuge in the West Read More

5/12/06
Kundun

Crew: Co-producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Gyurme Tethong, Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin, Tenzin Yeshi Paichang, Tencho Gyalpo, Tsewang Migyur Khangsar

Synopsis: This Martin Scorsese film drama detailing the Dalai Lama's life story was in development for seven years, with the Dalai Lama having input into the 14 screenplay drafts by Melissa Mathison (The Black Stallion, E.T.). With four actors portraying the Dalai Lama at different ages, Scorsese's Read More

1997
The Indian in the Cupboard

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Steve Coogan, Rishi Bhat, Hal Scardino, Litefoot, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Jenkins

Synopsis: Based on the popular children's book by Lynne Reid Banks, this fantasy concerns a young boy who discovers that his toys are developing lives of their own -- which presents him with unexpected responsibilities. Omri (Hal Scardino), a young boy growing up in Brooklyn, receives an odd variety of Read More

1995
Always

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, Brad Johnson, John Goodman, Audrey Hepburn

Synopsis: For all its state-of-the-art special effects, Always is essentially a remake of the 1943 Spencer Tracy-Irene Dunne fantasy vehicle A Guy Named Joe--minus the wartime context. Richard Dreyfuss stars as a reckless fire-fighting pilot who is killed in what was to have been his final mission. Read More

12/22/89
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Crew: Associate Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, Debra Winger

Synopsis: Both a classic movie for kids and a remarkable portrait of childhood, E.T. is a sci-fi adventure that captures that strange moment in youth when the world is a place of mysterious possibilities (some wonderful, some awful), and the universe seems somehow separate from the one inhabited by Read More

6/11/82
The Escape Artist

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Griffin O'Neal, Raul Julia, Teri Garr, Joan Hackett, Gabriel Dell

Synopsis: The Escape Artist represents the laudable directorial debut of cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. Griffin O'Neal, the real-life son of Ryan O'Neal, plays Danny Masters, the offspring of a famed magician. Determined to match his dad's accomplishment, Danny runs into nothing but trouble. His biggest Read More

1982
The Black Stallion

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr, Clarence Muse, Hoyt Axton

Synopsis: This beautifully mounted adaptation of Walter Farley's story for children tells the tale of Alec (Kelly Reno), a young boy touring the world with his adventurous salesman father (Hoyt Axton). While travelling back to the United States by ship, Alec discovers a wild, beautiful Arabian stallion Read More

1979