Nicholas Meyer

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For the former president of Paramount Vantage, see Nick Meyer.
Nicholas Meyer
Meyer in 2016
Born (1945-12-24) December 24, 1945 (age 78)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Iowa
Occupations
Websitenicholas-meyer.com

Nicholas Meyer (born December 24, 1945) is an American screenwriter, director and author known for his best-selling novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, and for directing the films Time After Time, two of the Star Trek feature films, the 1983 television film The Day After, and the 1999 HBO original film Vendetta.

Meyer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), where he adapted his own novel into a screenplay. He has also been nominated for a Satellite Award, three Emmy Awards, and has won four Saturn Awards. He appeared as himself during the 2017 On Cinema spinoff series The Trial, during which he testified about Star Trek and San Francisco.

Early life

Meyer was born in New York City, to a Jewish family. He is the son of Bernard Constant Meyer (1910–1988), a Manhattan psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and his first wife, concert pianist Elly (died 1960; née Kassman). He has three sisters.[1] Meyer graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in theater and filmmaking, and also wrote film reviews for the campus newspaper.

Career

Author

Meyer first gained public attention for his best-selling 1974 Sherlock Holmes novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, a story of Holmes confronting his cocaine addiction with the help of Sigmund Freud.

Meyer followed this with four additional Holmes novels: The West End Horror (1976), The Canary Trainer (1993), The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols (2019), and The Return of the Pharaoh (2021).[2][3]

Meyer has said that The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols was inspired by Steven Zipperstein's Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History.[4]

Writer/Director

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution was later adapted as a 1976 film of the same name, for which Meyer wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by Herbert Ross and starred Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Alan Arkin and Laurence Olivier. For his work adapting the novel, Meyer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 49th Academy Awards.

Intrigued by the first part of college friend Karl Alexander's then-incomplete novel Time After Time, Meyer optioned the book and adapted it into a screenplay. He consented to sell the script only if he were attached as director. The deal was optioned by Warner Bros., and the film became Meyer's directorial debut. Meyer freely allowed Alexander to borrow from the screenplay. The latter published his novel at about the same time the movie was released.

Time After Time (1979) starred Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen and David Warner. It was a critical and commercial success.[5]

Meyer next "wanted to make a film of the Robertson Davies novel, Fifth Business. And I had written the screenplay. And nobody was interested in doing this." At the behest of then Paramount executive Karen Moore, he was hired to direct Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.[6]

Meyer later directed the 1983 television film The Day After, starring Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, John Cullum, Bibi Besch, John Lithgow and Steve Guttenberg, which depicted the ramifications of a nuclear attack on the United States. Meyer had originally decided not to do any television work, but changed his mind upon reading the script by Edward Hume. For his work on The Day After, Meyer was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Director. Afterward, he also directed "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", a 1985 episode of the television series Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre.

He resumed directing theatrical films with the 1985 comedy Volunteers, starring Tom Hanks and John Candy. He then returned to Star Trek, co-writing the screenplay for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) with producer Harve Bennett.

In 1986 Meyer helped James Dearden write the screenplay for Fatal Attraction, based on a short movie Dearden made in 1980 called Diversion.[7] In Meyer's book The View from the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood, he explains that in late 1986 producer Stanley R. Jaffe asked him to look at the script developed by Dearden, and he wrote a four-page memo making suggestions for the script including a new ending for the movie. A few weeks later he met with director Adrian Lyne and gave him some additional suggestions.

Meyer's next directing job was the 1988 Merchant Ivory produced drama The Deceivers, with Pierce Brosnan as British officer William Savage. Meyer later wrote and directed the 1991 spy comedy Company Business, starring Gene Hackman and Mikhail Baryshnikov as aging American and Russian secret agents. In 1991, Meyer once again returned to the world of Star Trek, co-writing and directing Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which became a swan song for the original cast.[8] Meyer performed uncredited rewrites on an early draft of the screenplay of the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies.[9]

Meyer adapted the Philip Roth novel The Human Stain into the 2003 film of the same name. In 2006, he teamed with Martin Scorsese to write the screenplay for Scorsese's adaptation of Edmund Morris's Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Theodore Roosevelt, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. The story traces Roosevelt's early life.

The two part, four hour, History Channel event miniseries, Houdini, starring Adrien Brody, aired over Labor Day 2014. Meyer's script was nominated for a WGA award and the series was nominated for seven Emmys.

In 2016, he co-created the Italian-British series Medici: Masters of Florence with Frank Spotnitz for Italian TV channel Rai 1, and wrote the first two episodes of season one.

Star Trek

Meyer, along with writer/producer Harve Bennett, is one of two people credited with revitalizing and perhaps saving the Star Trek franchise after the problems of the first film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, almost caused Paramount Pictures to end the series. Paramount had been unhappy with the creative direction of the first film, as well as the cost overruns and production problems. However, the film was also a great financial success, and they wanted a sequel. Bennett, a reliable television producer, was hired to help.

Introduced to Bennett by Paramount executive Karen Moore, Meyer was hired as a potential director for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan despite never having seen the first film.[10]: 96  Due to problems with the early drafts of the script, which most readers disliked, Meyer quickly became involved in re-writing the film's screenplay. After meeting with Bennett and other cast members and crew members regarding the script, Meyer impressed Star Trek actors and producers by delivering a superior script draft in only twelve days. The draft had to be completed so quickly that Meyer agreed to forgo negotiating a contract or credit for his writing to begin work on the script immediately. As a result, he is uncredited as a writer on the final film.

Meyer made stylistic alterations in his direction, such as adding more of a naval appearance to the production. Meyer and Bennett created an engaging film while also reducing costs and avoiding the production fiascoes of the first Star Trek film. [citation needed] The Wrath of Khan became a financial success, grossing $78 million in the domestic market, and is considered by many to be the best Star Trek film to date.[11]

Although he "refuse[d] to specialize" and so vowed to not work on another Star Trek project,[12] Meyer co-wrote the screenplay for the fourth Star Trek film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home with Bennett. For that film, Bennett wrote the first and third acts, which occur in the 23rd century, and Meyer wrote the second act, which occurs in 1986 San Francisco. Meyer has said that one of the most enjoyable aspects of working on this film was getting the chance to re-use elements which he had been forced to discard from his earlier film, Time After Time. Star Trek IV proved to be successful financially,[13] notable for succeeding with general moviegoers as well as science fiction and Star Trek devotees.

Meyer worked for the Star Trek franchise again for the sixth film in the series, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). He developed the story with Leonard Nimoy and co-wrote the screenplay with long-time friend and assistant Denny Flinn. He directed the picture, which was the final film to feature the entire classic Star Trek cast. Like its predecessors, this film was successful financially, grossing $74 million in the domestic market.[14] Many of Meyer's personal papers from his involvement with the Star Trek franchise are housed at the University of Iowa Libraries.[15]

In February 2016 it was announced that Meyer would be returning to Star Trek by joining the writing team for CBS's new TV series Star Trek: Discovery.[16] In November 2018, Meyer announced in an online interview that he was not invited back for Discovery's second season. He also disclosed that he could not identify his precise contributions, as television is such a collaborative medium.[17][18]

In 2020, Meyer wrote a detailed proposal with his producing partner Steven-Charles Jaffe for a new Star Trek project, including a treatment and illustrations. Meyer said the project was not connected to any of the franchise's previous films and was set in a gap in the Star Trek timeline where an original story could be told with new characters. He described the project as a feature film, but said it could also be a television series or a combination of television and film. Meyer and Jaffe presented this proposal to Star Trek television producer Alex Kurtzman, Abrams, and Watts, but had not heard anything back from Paramount by March 2021.[19] At that time, Paramount set Star Trek: Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez to write the script for a new Star Trek film, based on her own original idea, with Abrams's Bad Robot producing.

Personal life

Meyer's daughter, screenwriter Dylan Meyer, is the fiancée of actress and filmmaker Kristen Stewart.[20][21][22] In 2023, Nicholas Meyer won the Future of Life Award[23] for reducing the risk of nuclear war through the power of storytelling.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Writer
1973 Invasion of the Bee Girls No Yes
1976 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution No Yes
1979 Time After Time Yes Yes
1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Yes Uncredited
1985 Volunteers Yes No
1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home No Yes
1987 Fatal Attraction[7] No Uncredited
1988 The Deceivers Yes No
1991 Company Business Yes Yes
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Yes Yes
1993 Sommersby No Yes
1995 Voices No Yes
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies[9] No Uncredited
1998 The Prince of Egypt No Additional
2003 The Human Stain No Yes
2008 Elegy No Yes
2009 The Hessen Affair No Yes

Producer

Television

Year Title Director Writer Notes
1985 Faerie Tale Theatre Yes Yes Episode "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"
2016 Medici: Masters of Florence No Yes 1 episode
Also co-creator
2017 Star Trek: Discovery No Yes 1 episode;
Also consulting producer
On Cinema at the Cinema No No As himself

Miniseries

Year Title Writer Executive
Producer
1997 The Odyssey No Yes
2014 Houdini Yes No

TV movies

Year Title Director Writer Executive
Producer
1974 Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders No Yes No
1975 The Night That Panicked America No Yes No
1983 The Day After Yes No No
1997 The Informant No Yes Yes
1999 Vendetta Yes No No
2002 Fall from the Sky No Yes No
2006 Orpheus No Yes Yes

Bibliography

Year Title Notes
1970 The Love Story Story Non-fiction
1974 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Sherlock Holmes pastiche

Publishers Weekly's bestselling novels of 1974
The New York Times Best Seller list.[24][25]

Target Practice
1976 The West End Horror Sherlock Holmes pastiche

The New York Times Best Seller list.[26]

1978 Black Orchid Co-Written with Barry J. Kaplan
1981 Confessions of a Homing Pigeon
1993 The Canary Trainer Sherlock Holmes pastiche
2009 The View From the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood Non-fiction
2019 The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols Sherlock Holmes pastiche[27]
2021 The Return of the Pharaoh Sherlock Holmes pastiche[28]

Awards and nominations

Award Year Project Category Result
Academy Awards 1976 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Emmy Awards 1975 The Night That Panicked America Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special Nominated
1983 The Day After Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special Nominated
1997 The Odyssey Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries Nominated
Satellite Awards 2008 Elegy Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Saturn Awards 1979 Time After Time Best Science Fiction Film Nominated
Best Director Nominated
Best Writing Won
1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Best Director Won
Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film Nominated
1984 The George Pal Memorial Award Won
1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Best Writing Nominated
1991 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Best Science Fiction Film Won
Best Writing Nominated
Spur Awards 1993 Sommersby Best Drama Script Won

References

  1. ^ "Dr. Bernard Meyer, Psychiatrist, Dies at 78". The New York Times. 24 July 1988.
  2. ^ "Nicholas Meyer Puts Sherlock Holmes on the Couch".
  3. ^ "The Return of the Pharaoh".
  4. ^ Langer, Adam (22 November 2019). "Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History". The Forward. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Time After Time". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. 31 August 1979. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  6. ^ Meyer, Nicholas (2009). The View From the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood. NY: Viking. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-0-670-02130-7.
  7. ^ a b Meyer, Nicholas (2009). The View from the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood. Penguin Books. ISBN 9781101133477.
  8. ^ ISBNdb.com. "Bibliography of Meyer, Nicholas, alphabetically ordered". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  9. ^ a b Rex Weiner and Adam Dawtrey. "Latest Bond Production Shaken, Stirred". Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2012. Online copy of news article originally published in Variety (8–15 December 1996).
  10. ^ Dillard, J.M. (1994). Star Trek: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" — A History in Pictures. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-51149-1.
  11. ^ "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". Rotten Tomatoes. 4 June 1982. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  12. ^ Anderson, Nancy (1982-07-04). "Trekkies wrath worse than Khan's". Newburgh Evening News. Copley News Service. pp. 14E. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  13. ^ "Star Trek Movies at the Box Office – Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) – Box office / business". imdb.com. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Papers of Nicholas Meyer – The University of Iowa Libraries". www.lib.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  16. ^ "'Star Trek': Nicholas Meyer Joins CBS Series as Writer-Producer – Hollywood Reporter". hollywoodreporter.com. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  17. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Nicholas Meyer talks Star Trek Discovery, Khan Spin-off series and more (Exclusive Interview)". Youtube.com. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  18. ^ "'Star Trek: Discovery': Nicholas Meyer Not Invited Back for Season 2". Comicbook.com. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  19. ^ Pascale, Anthony (March 10, 2021). "Exclusive: 'Wrath Of Khan' Director Nicholas Meyer Has Pitched A New Star Trek Movie To Paramount". TrekMovie.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  20. ^ "'It's happening': Kristen Stewart confirms engagement to Dylan Meyer". 2 November 2021.
  21. ^ "K. Stew is Working on a TV Show with Her Fiancée". 17 February 2022.
  22. ^ "17 Thoughts I Had About Kristen Stewart's Engagement to Dylan Meyer". 2 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Future Of Life Award 2023". Future of Life Institute. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  24. ^ Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1974. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  25. ^ Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1975. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  26. ^ Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1976. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  27. ^ Wright, Molly (October 16, 2019). "Writer Nicholas Meyer on the Inspiration Behind His Latest Sherlock Holmes Tale". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  28. ^ Duong, Ashley (November 13, 2021). "Book review: Murder and espionage in Egypt with Sherlock Holmes". The Daily Herald. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
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