# Simon Kinberg
**Simon David Kinberg** (born 1973) is a British-American screenwriter, producer, and director best known for his decade-long stewardship of the X-Men film franchise at 20th Century Fox, for producing the Academy Award-nominated *The Martian*, and for co-creating the animated series *Star Wars Rebels*. In November 2024, [Lucasfilm](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucasfilm) hired him to write and produce a new *Star Wars* trilogy.[1](https://www.productionlist.com/production-role/simon-kinberg) • [2](https://au.variety.com/2024/film/global/star-wars-new-trilogy-simon-kinberg-18526/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1973, London, England; raised in Los Angeles[3](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/people/4024/simon-kinberg) • [4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/) |
| Education | English literature at Brown University (class of 1995, Phi Beta Kappa); MFA, Columbia University Film School[5](https://arts.columbia.edu/news/out-past-future-simon-kinberg-03) |
| Breakthrough | *Mr. & Mrs. Smith* (2005), written as his Columbia thesis project, grossed $487 million worldwide[4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/) |
| X-Men role | Screenwriter on *X-Men: The Last Stand* (2006), then writer or producer on each subsequent entry through *Dark Phoenix* (2019), his directorial debut[4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/) |
| Notable producing credits | *The Martian* (Best Picture Oscar nomination), *Logan*, the *Deadpool* films, *Murder on the Orient Express*, *A Haunting in Venice*[6](https://www.thewrap.com/simon-kinberg-star-wars-trilogy-announcement/) |
| Star Wars work | Co-created *Star Wars Rebels* with Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck; consulted on *The Force Awakens*; writing and producing a new trilogy announced in 2024[2](https://au.variety.com/2024/film/global/star-wars-new-trilogy-simon-kinberg-18526/) |
| Television | Created *Invasion* (Apple TV+, 2021–2025); executive producer of *Legion*, *The Gifted*, *Designated Survivor*, and *The Twilight Zone*[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1334526/) |
## Early life and education
Kinberg was born in London and raised in Los Angeles; his father was the late producer and film professor Jud Kinberg, so he grew up around movies.[3](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/people/4024/simon-kinberg) • [4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/) His first ambition was to be a novelist. He studied English Language and [Literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/literature) at [Brown University](https://www.edgepedia.org/brown-university), where he was inducted into [Phi Beta Kappa](https://www.edgepedia.org/phi-beta-kappa), but found that everything he wrote felt like a movie, so he enrolled in film school at Columbia University.[5](https://arts.columbia.edu/news/out-past-future-simon-kinberg-03) • [8](https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2019-07-10/the-accidental-director)
At Columbia he won the Zaki Gordon Fellowship for Screenwriting. His first feature screenplay, *Ghouls of New York*, about a plot to kidnap the body of New York's richest man, was never sold, but pitching it in class brought him meetings with studios, agents, and managers that started his career.[5](https://arts.columbia.edu/news/out-past-future-simon-kinberg-03)
## Breakthrough as a screenwriter
While still a graduate film student, Kinberg flew to Hollywood and sold the second screenplay he had ever written, about a married couple who, unknown to each other, are rival spies assigned to kill one another. That script became *[Mr. & Mrs. Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/mr-and-mrs-smith-2005-film)* (2005), directed by [Doug Liman](https://www.edgepedia.org/doug-liman), which grossed $487 million worldwide.[4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/) The meetings he took while balancing schoolwork introduced him to junior studio executives who later ran studios, relationships he maintained through his career.[4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/)
He followed with *xXx: State of the Union* (2005) and *Jumper* (2008), and wrote [Guy Ritchie](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-ritchie)'s *Sherlock Holmes* (2009).[9](https://www.metacritic.com/person/simon-kinberg/) He also worked behind the scenes on uncredited script revisions for films including *Edge of Tomorrow* (2014) and *Ouija* (2014).[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1334526/)
## The X-Men franchise
Kinberg was brought on as screenwriter for 2006's *X-Men: The Last Stand* and served as either writer or producer, sometimes both, on each subsequent entry in the series.[4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/) His credits include *X-Men: First Class* (2011), *X-Men: Days of Future Past* (2014), *X-Men: Apocalypse* (2016), and the spinoffs *Deadpool* (2016), *Logan* (2017), and *Deadpool 2* (2018).[2](https://au.variety.com/2024/film/global/star-wars-new-trilogy-simon-kinberg-18526/)
**Dark Phoenix.** In 2019 he made his directorial debut with *X-Men: Dark Phoenix*, from a script he also wrote, returning to the Dark Phoenix storyline he felt had been sidelined in *The Last Stand*. "My biggest regret from 'The Last Stand' is that the Dark Phoenix story, which is the most enduring story in the history of this very esteemed saga, was given a back seat in the movie," he told the Los Angeles Times.[10](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-dark-phoenix-simon-kinberg-20190605-story.html) The film was a critical and commercial failure, and his second film as director, the spy thriller *The 355* (2022), developed with [Jessica Chastain](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-chastain) from an idea she brought him on the *Dark Phoenix* set, also underperformed.[8](https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2019-07-10/the-accidental-director) • [11](https://www.darkhorizons.com/kinbergs-star-wars-trilogy-finds-a-director/)
## Producing career
As a producer, Kinberg's films include *Elysium* (2013), *The Martian* (2015), *Cinderella* (2015), *Murder on the Orient Express* (2017), *A Haunting in Venice* (2023), *Lift* (2024), *Deadpool & Wolverine* (2024), and [Edgar Wright](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgar-wright)'s *The Running Man* (2025).[5](https://arts.columbia.edu/news/out-past-future-simon-kinberg-03) • [9](https://www.metacritic.com/person/simon-kinberg/) *The Martian*, produced for [Ridley Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/ridley-scott), received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.[6](https://www.thewrap.com/simon-kinberg-star-wars-trilogy-announcement/)
## Television
Kinberg executive produced a run of genre and thriller series: *Legion* (2017–2019) and *The Gifted* (2017–2019), both set in the X-Men universe; *Designated Survivor* (2016–2019); a revival of *The Twilight Zone* (2019–2020); and *Star Wars Rebels* (2014–2016).[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1334526/) He created the Apple TV+ series *Invasion*, which ran from 2021 to 2025 and followed characters around the globe during an alien invasion; he described it as a mash-up of H.G. Wells' *War of the Worlds* and the ensemble drama *Babel*, and co-wrote nine of the ten first-season episodes with [David Weil](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-weil).[4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/)
## Star Wars and other franchises
After Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, Kinberg joined a small brain trust developing new projects for the studio. He consulted on J.J. Abrams' *Star Wars: The Force Awakens* (2015) and co-created the animated series *Star Wars Rebels* with [Dave Filoni](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-filoni) and Carrie Beck.[6](https://www.thewrap.com/simon-kinberg-star-wars-trilogy-announcement/)
In November 2024, Lucasfilm hired Kinberg to write and produce a new trilogy of *Star Wars* films, described as a "new saga" set after the events of *The Rise of Skywalker* (2019). Lucasfilm disputed an early report that the films would be Episodes 10 through 12 of the Skywalker Saga.[2](https://au.variety.com/2024/film/global/star-wars-new-trilogy-simon-kinberg-18526/) In January 2026, outgoing Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed the project was active: "He's working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there." She said the story had been overhauled and a treatment finished about four weeks before the interview, and that the trilogy would take the franchise "well into 2030 plus." Her successors Dave Filoni and [Lynwen Brennan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lynwen-brennan) supported the project.[12](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2084583-star-wars-trilogy-simon-kinberg-kathleen-kennedy-lucasfilm/xwp_curated_content) • [13](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/star-wars-movies/new-lucasfilm-bosses-are-very-much-onboard-with-a-new-star-wars-trilogy-taking-us-into-2030/) In September 2026, [Jon Watts](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-watts), director of the [Tom Holland](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-holland) *Spider-Man* films and the Disney+ series *Skeleton Crew*, was reported to be directing the first film from Kinberg's script; Lucasfilm declined to comment.[14](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/star-wars-jon-watts-to-direct-first-film-in-new-trilogy-simon-kinberg/)
Kinberg has also been attached as a producer to Paramount's next *Star Trek* film, directed by Toby Haynes, and to projects including a *Magic: The Gathering* film, a *Logan's Run* remake, and the heist film *Here Comes the Flood*, which he wrote.[2](https://au.variety.com/2024/film/global/star-wars-new-trilogy-simon-kinberg-18526/) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1334526/)
## References
1. [Simon Kinberg | Production List](https://www.productionlist.com/production-role/simon-kinberg)
2. [New 'Star Wars' Trilogy in the Works From 'X-Men' Alum Simon Kinberg, Variety](https://au.variety.com/2024/film/global/star-wars-new-trilogy-simon-kinberg-18526/)
3. [Simon Kinberg : productions, filmographie et photos, Nrmagazine](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/people/4024/simon-kinberg)
4. ['Invasion' Writer Simon Kinberg Made a Blockbuster Career by Keeping Things Personal, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/simon-kinberg-invasion-apple-tv-interview-74148/)
5. [Out of the Past, Into the Future: Simon Kinberg '03, Columbia University School of the Arts](https://arts.columbia.edu/news/out-past-future-simon-kinberg-03)
6. [Simon Kinberg to Write and Produce New 'Star Wars' Trilogy, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/simon-kinberg-star-wars-trilogy-announcement/)
7. [Simon Kinberg, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1334526/)
8. [The Accidental Director, Brown Alumni Magazine](https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2019-07-10/the-accidental-director)
9. [Simon Kinberg, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/simon-kinberg/)
10. [With 'Dark Phoenix,' 'X-Men' architect Simon Kinberg knew he was making a grand finale, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-dark-phoenix-simon-kinberg-20190605-story.html)
11. [Kinberg's "Star Wars" Trilogy Finds A Director?, Dark Horizons](https://www.darkhorizons.com/kinbergs-star-wars-trilogy-finds-a-director/)
12. [Star Wars' 'New Trilogy' Gets Huge Update From Kathleen Kennedy, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2084583-star-wars-trilogy-simon-kinberg-kathleen-kennedy-lucasfilm/xwp_curated_content)
13. [New Lucasfilm bosses are "very much onboard" with a new Star Wars trilogy taking us into 2030, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/star-wars-movies/new-lucasfilm-bosses-are-very-much-onboard-with-a-new-star-wars-trilogy-taking-us-into-2030/)
14. ['Star Wars': Jon Watts to Direct First Film in New Trilogy, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/star-wars-jon-watts-to-direct-first-film-in-new-trilogy-simon-kinberg/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors › Directors of the United States and Canada › Contemporary film directors › Directors debuting in the 1990s and 2000s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license