Joe Eszterhas

Writing

Joe Eszterhas

Born

1944-11-23 (81)

Place of birth

Csakanydoroszlo, Hungary

Known for

Writing

Credits

27 titles

József Antal Eszterhás (Hungarian: [ˈjoːʒɛf ɒntɒl ˈɛstɛrhaːʃ]; born November 23, 1944), credited as Joe Eszterhas, is a Hungarian-American writer. Born in Hungary, he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. After an early career as a journalist and editor, he entered the film industry. His first screenwriting credit was for the film F.I.S.T. (1978). He co-wrote the script for Flashdance, which became one of the highest-grossing films of 1983, and set off a lucrative and prolific run for his career. By the early 1990s, he was known as the highest-paid writer in Hollywood, and noted for his work in the erotic thriller genre. He was paid a then-record $3 million for his script Love Hu…

Known for

Film credits

Behind the camera

Basic Instinct poster
7.0

Catherine, a novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite, becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered -- a crime she had described in her latest story.

Basic Instinct

1992

Showgirls poster
5.6

Fresh to Las Vegas with no connections, Nomi Malone takes a job as an exotic dancer. Her talents are quickly noticed by Cristal, a headlining dancer who senses an opportunity to bolster her own act. But Nomi won’t play second fiddle and soon begins her venomous path to the top, ruthlessly backstabbing anyone who gets in her way.

Showgirls

1995

Sliver poster
5.6

A woman moves into a Manhattan apartment, where she learns that the previous tenant's life ended under mysterious circumstances.

Sliver

1993

Nowhere to Run poster
6.6

Escaped convict Sam Gillen single-handedly takes on ruthless developers who are determined to evict a widow with two young children.

Nowhere to Run

1993

Flashdance poster
6.5

Alex Owens, a young woman juggling between two odd jobs, aspires to become a successful ballet dancer. Nick, who is her boss and lover, supports and encourages her to fulfil her dream.

Flashdance

1983

Jagged Edge poster
6.3

After a wealthy heiress is murdered in her beach house, her devastated husband becomes the prime suspect. He hires a lawyer who hasn’t taken a criminal case in years, and as they work together, a complicated romance develops amidst the trial.

Jagged Edge

1985

F.I.S.T. poster
6.5

Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.

F.I.S.T.

1978

F.I.S.T. poster
6.5

Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.

F.I.S.T.

1978

Jade poster
5.5

When a prominent art dealer is found murdered, the man's death leads to an intriguing investigation steeped in sex, corruption and crime. District Attorney David Corelli gets assigned to the case and discovers that a key suspect is his ex-lover Katrina Gavin, a beautiful psychologist who has settled down with his old friend and peer. As Corelli gets deeper into the case, he uncovers dark secrets with far-reaching implications.

Jade

1995

Betrayed poster
6.1

An FBI agent posing as a combine driver becomes romantically involved with a Midwest farmer who lives a double life as a white supremacist.

Betrayed

1988

Music Box poster
7.2

A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.

Music Box

1989

Telling Lies in America poster
5.8

A 17-year-old boy becomes friends with Billy Magic, the radio DJ he idolizes, and eventually slips into the payola and corruption of the entertainment world.

Telling Lies in America

1997

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn poster
3.9

Filmmaker Alan Smithee finds himself the unwilling puppet of a potentially bad big budget action film, for which he proceeds to steal the reels, and leaves the cast and crew in a frenzy.

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn

1998

Hearts of Fire poster
4.1

A reclusive musician, once a huge rock star, takes a young female protegee. While on a tour she meets a younger, more popular rocker and switches her loyalties.

Hearts of Fire

1987

Children of Glory poster
6.8

During the ill-fated Hungarian revolution of 1956, Karcsi Szabo, star player on the water polo team, is torn between his love for a revolutionary student and his training for the Melbourne Olympics.

Children of Glory

2006

Checking Out poster
4.4

When his best friend dies of a heart attack, Ray Macklin becomes a man obsessed with his own mortality. Convinced that all his aches and pains are an indication of his imminent death, Ray's life turns into a slapstick farce of health-crazed anxiety and hypochondria.

Checking Out

1988

Big Shots poster
6.6

Following the death of his father, a suburbanite runs away from home and winds up on Chicago's South Side. After being mugged, the boy befriends a young hustler and, after stealing a gangster's car, the two embark on an adventure down south in search of the hustler's estranged father.

Big Shots

1987

No artwork available
NR

Plot TBA; will feature the return of crime novelist Catherine Tramell and introduces her daughter Jezebel.

Untitled Basic Instinct Reboot

—

The Impact poster
NR

The Impact is a fascinating tapestry of interwoven stories from diverse voices around the world; at times moving and profound, at others hilarious and irreverent, but always asking ‘what would we do in our final moments?’ A multi-cultural and global reflection of pop culture’s vision of the apocalypse…

The Impact

2022