Jonathan Gems

Jonathan Gems (born 1952, London) is a British playwright and screenwriter mostly known for his work on Mars Attacks! (1996), directed by Tim Burton.[1][2] He also wrote the film's novelization. His well known work includes a screenplay for an adaptation of George Orwell’s novel 1984.

Jonathan Gems
Born1952 (age 70–71)
United Kingdom
OccupationPlaywright, screenwriter
LanguageEnglish
GenreTheatre, film
RelativesPam Gems (mother)
Keith Gems (father)
Milla Gems (former spouse m.(2000–2009)

The son of the playwright Pam Gems,[3] Gems wrote a number of plays for theatres on the London fringe before gradually turning to screenwriting.[4] As well as Mars Attacks!, Gems did uncredited rewrite work on Batman (1989). Gems has written unproduced scripts for Burton, including a Beetlejuice (1988) sequel titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, an updating of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" set in Burbank, California, The Hawkline Monster, a cowboy/monster movie that was to star Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson, and Go Baby Go, a beach movie in the style of films by Russ Meyer.

Plays
  • The Tax Exile (produced 1979)
  • Naked Robots (produced 1980)
  • The Paranormalist (produced 1982)
  • Susan's Breasts (produced 1985)

References
  1. "Pax Americana". Sight and Sound. Vol. 7, no. 2. London. 1 February 1997. p. 6–9. The Mars Attacks! narrative is so inconsistent that screenwriter Jonathan Gems, who brought the project to Burton, might have generated his script William Burroughs style, by tossing the Topps cards in the air and then tracking their random pattern. Who cares?
  2. Newman, Kim (1 March 1997). "Mars Attacks!". Sight and Sound. Vol. 7, no. 3. London. p. 53–54.
  3. "Pam Gems: Playwright who explored the dilemmas of women and brought the story of Edith Piaf to the London stage". Daily Telegraph. 17 May 2011. p. 27.
  4. Strachan, Alan (1994). "Gems, Jonathan (Malcolm Frederick)". In Berney, Kate (ed.). Contemporary British Dramatists. St. James Press. ISBN 1-55862-213-6.


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