Matthew George "Matt" Reeves (born April 27, 1966 in Rockville Centre, New York) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer.
He found success with Cloverfield and the critically acclaimed sequels to Rise of the Planet of the Apes that he directed, and has since been set to write and direct the next cinematic iteration of Batman.
Works he directed:
- The Paulbearer (1996)
- Homicide: Life on the Street (1997, Season 6 episode 8)
- Felicity (1998-2001, several episodes)
- Cloverfield (2008)
- Let Me In (2010)
- Planet of the Apes (reboot/prequel series):
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
- The Passage (2019)
- The Batman (2022)
Other works he's been involved in:
- Cloverfield:
- 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016, executive producer)
- The Cloverfield Paradox (2018, executive producer)
- Tales from the Loop (2020, executive producer)
Tropes associated with his works:
- Anti-Hero: His films usually feature an imperfect protagonist.
- Downer Ending: His films usually feature one. With the exception of The Paulbearer which has a Happy Ending, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which leans more into Bittersweet Ending (although the next sequel War indicates a Happy Ending Override regarding it's human protagonist in a deleted scene).
- Early Installment Weirdness: His directorial debut was the romantic comedy The Pallbearers, starring David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow. His subsequent films have been much darker.
- Hero Antagonist: In Dawn and War for the Planet of the Apes. The Police Officer in Let Me In counts as well.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: While leaning more on the cynical end, it does establish that all his characters are human, sympathetic, and complex creatures.
