Biography
Date of Birth
28 March 1969, Miami Beach, Florida, USAHeight
5' 8" (1.73 m)Mini Biography
Ratner grew up in Miami Beach, the only child of a famous Jewish socialite mother. He attended Miami Beach Senior High and was President of the Leo Club in 1986. He was also a member of the "fraternity" Royal Palm. He attended NYU film school currently lives in a $3.6 M house in Beverly Hills. Ratner is also a good friend of Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons, and has directed music videos for many rap stars.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Fratboy2Trade Mark
Opens his movies with a character singing.
Frequently casts Don Cheadle, Chris Tucker and Ken Leung.
Frequently casts Don Cheadle.
Frequently casts 'Ken Leung' .
Trivia
Engaged to Rebecca Gayheart [1997]
Got his start by directing rap and hip-hop videos for his friend Russell Simmons. When the original director of Money Talks (1997) had to be replaced, Russell Simmons recommended him.
Attended Miami Beach Senior High
Once vowed he would not direct movies until he had directed at least 100 music videos.
Without knowing him, Steven Spielberg sent him $5000 to finish his final film project at NYU after he sent out 20 letters to producers asking for help.
Dating Serena Williams. [2004]
His favorite film is Scarface (1932).
Was in pre-production for a remake of John Cassavetes' The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) after he finished Rush Hour (1998). It was to be written by Cassavetes' son, Nick Cassavetes and Warren Beatty was set to star. Ratner left the project when he was offered The Family Man (2000).
Favorite film director is Hal Ashby.
After meeting with real life FBI agents, he decided that it would not be authentic to have Scott Glenn reprise the role of Jack Crawford in Red Dragon (2002), his The Silence of the Lambs (1991) prequel. Instead, he cast Harvey Keitel, in a role originally created by Dennis Farina in Manhunter (1986). Keitel and Farina had also both played Ray Barbone in the film Get Shorty (1995). Ratner was considered for directing the sequel to Get Shorty, entitled Be Cool (2005), in which Keitel also appears.
Ranked #81 on Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List. He did not rank on the 2004 list.
At Miami Beach Senior High School was a drama student of well-known instructor Jay W. Jensen.
Replaced director Matthew Vaughn just two months before filming began on X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
Was for some time attached to direct Superman Returns (2006). He left the project because of repeated delays and difficulty in casting a lead actor. The project then went to Bryan Singer, while Ratner went on to direct X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), the two previous movies in the saga having been directed by Singer.
In Red Dragon (2002), digital technology was used to smooth over some of Anthony Hopkins's facial features so that he would look younger than he was in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Similar technology was used in the first scene of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), so that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen could play their characters twenty years younger.
Considered directing Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).
Personal Quotes
"There's no difference between a tacky Jew from Miami and a rap star. They both want the Cadillac and the Rolex with the diamonds."
"In Hollywood you gotta keep the movement. You gotta have three or four projects and whichever one comes in first, or better, that's the one you're going to do."
"There are very few perfect films. I think Reservoir Dogs (1992) is close to being a perfect film".
"Why do I need final cut? Final cut is for artistes quote unquote--directors whose movies don't make a lot of money. Maybe Scorsese should have final cut because a guy like Harvey Weinstein or a studio might change it to make it a little more accessible or a little more commercial and he has a vision of what he wants it to be. He wants it to be four hours long or whatever."
[Explaining his recasting of the role of "Jack Crawford" with Harvey Keitel in Red Dragon (2002)]: When Jonathan Demme said make your own version, I couldn't see anyone but Anthony Hopkins and I couldn't see anyone but Anthony Heald as "Dr. Chilton". I can't see another acting doing it. But what happened was I went down to the FBI, and discovered they're like tough New York Cops. They weren't like Scott Glenn.
"No matter how successful you are, you are not invincible. The studio is writing the checks. It's all about leverage and who has the power. The goal is to get the biggest deal you can, because you are going to have to give something back to the studios anyway."
Salary
| Red Dragon (2002) | $6,000,000 |
| Rush Hour 2 (2001) | $5,000,000 |
| The Family Man (2000) | $5,000,000 |
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