Thanks to his 2013 hit Prisoners, director Denis Villeneuve has been progressively climbing the Hollywood ladder, with his latest movie being the Emily Blunt-starring, drug-war thriller Sicario. For most people he's still a bit of an unknown quantity, though. So here's a crash course on what you need to know about one of the most exciting directors working today. 

 

Denis Villeneuve
Age: 47
Born: Quebec, Canada

 

First Feature Film: August 32nd on Earth (1998)

The oddly titled August 32nd on Earth premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. Coincidentally, this was the first year Cannes offered a monetary prize to a filmmaker in the Un Certain Regard section, however Villeneuve did not win it.

Speaking of the Cannes Film Festival.... 

Sicario had its world premiere at the festival earlier this year. Unsurprisingly, it received rave reviews.

 

His Breakout Film: Incendies (2010)

An adaptation of a play about twins trying to fulfill the final wishes of their dying mother, Incendies was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards, but lost to In a Better World. However, at the Genie Awards (Canada’s equivalent of the Oscars), it swept the ceremony, winning a total of eight awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actress, Editing, Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay.

Speaking of the Genie Awards... 

Villeneuve has won every single time he’s been nominated. He won Best Director for Enemy, Incendies, Polytechnique and Maelström. The latter three also won Best Picture. He even won Best Screenplay awards for Incendies and Maelström.


His First Hollywood Film: Prisoners (2013)

Starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal as men on the hunt for two missing girls, Prisoners was not only remarkably well received by critics, but Villeneuve's first box office hit. This would mark the second Oscar nomination for a Villeneuve film, this time for Best Cinematography. (It lost to Gravity.)

Speaking of Prisoners... 

It was actually the second movie Jake Gyllenhaal and Villeneuve made together in 2013, but it was released before their first collaboration, Enemy.

 

His Next Big Gigs: Blade Runner 2 (TBD) and Story of Your Life (2016)

In case it wasn't obvious so far that Villenueve was becoming a pretty big deal, he was handpicked by Ridley Scott to direct the currently untitled follow-up to Blade Runner, which will star Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford. Before he can get to that high-profile project, though, Villenueve is sinking his teeth into some smaller science fiction with Story of Your Life, which stars Amy Adams as a linguistics expert tasked with interrogating an alien to see if his race comes in peace or not.

 

Sicario hits theaters on September 18, 2015.