Brett Ratner has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most successful directors and producers with eight feature films grossing over one and a half billion dollars worldwide in a short amount of time. At 26 years old he directed his first feature film, the surprise box office hit comedy Money Talks, starring Charlie Sheen and Chris Tucker. His second film, the action comedy Rush Hour starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, earned $250 million worldwide, paving the way for the extremely popular and lucrative Rush Hour trilogy that grossed more than $740 million worldwide and featured an acclaimed international supporting cast. He is also one of the only directors in history to make a $100 million grossing film before the age of 30.
Following the success of Rush Hour, Ratner directed the romantic fantasy drama The Family Man, a critical and box office hit starring Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni. Ratner’s fifth feature film, and first suspense thriller, was the much anticipated Silence of the Lambs prequel Red Dragon, starring Edward Norton, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson. His next film, After the Sunset, starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, and Don Cheadle opened to great success, continuing his streak.
Ratner’s work has been recognized with many awards including an MTV Award for Best Fight Sequence for Rush Hour 2, as well as a TONY Award for producing Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.
Ratner is currently directing the Imagine/Universal film Tower Heist in New York City. Tower Heist is scheduled for theatrical release in November 2011 and stars Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe, Casey Affleck, Stephen Henderson, Judd Hirsch, Michael Peña and Alan Alda. He also produced the documentary Catfish, New Line Cinema’s Horrible Bosses starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jason Bateman, and Jamie Foxx, the Sci-Fi Alien invasion thriller Skyline, directed by the Brothers Strause, and a new adaption of Snow White. Additionally Ratner has produced the documentaries Helmut by June, about the legendary photographer Helmut Newton and I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale, both for HBO as well as Executive Produced the successful television series Prison Break and the new 2011 CBS drama series Chaos, about a ragtag group of CIA operatives tripped up by backstabbing and beaucratic snafus.
In addition to success in film and music, Ratner has also teamed up with CAA Marketing to create Brett Ratner Brands, a creative consulting company that provides brands with new ways to market their products and services in entertaining ways. He has shot advertising campaigns for Activision’s Guitar Hero, Steve Wynn’s Encore, Oreo Cookies, Atlantis Resorts and conceptualized the new Mitchum deodorant campaign to find “the hardest working person in America.”
Ratner has also segued into book publishing and photography. Through his Rat Press imprint, he published the controversial book, Naked Pictures of My Ex-Girlfriends and authored Hilhaven Lodge: The Photo Booth Pictures, which was released in October 2003. His photographs have appeared in Vanity Fair, Interview and Heeb Magazine, and have graced the covers of Vogue, Homme, V-Life, Haute Living and Playboy.
Ratner also serves on the Dean’s Council of the NYU Tisch School of Arts and most recently, became the youngest member of the Board of Trustees of Simon Wiesenthal Center & Museum of Tolerance. He is also a Board Member of Best Buddies and Do Something.
Brett Ratner currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.
