Ed Solomon

Writing

Ed Solomon

Born 1960-09-15 · Saratoga, California, USA

Edward James Solomon (born September 15, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for writing the screenplays to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Men in Black (1997), and Now You See Me (2013). Solomon grew up in suburban Boston until his family moved to California. He went to UCLA and majored in economics while beginning his career as a joke writer, stand-up comedian, and playwright. While still in college, he was a staff writer for Laverne & Shirley—making him (at the time) the youngest member of the Writers Guild of America. He then spent three years writing the cult Showtime TV series, It's Garry Shandling's Show, before venturing into feature films in the 1980s. He helped create and co-write the critically acclaimed comedies Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (with Chris Matheson). Solomon also worked on a number of hit franchise films, including Men in Black, Charlie's Angels, and then writing the Now You See Me films. Solomon worked on an early version of a Universal The Invisible Man remake with Johnny Depp. In March 2016 he completed production on Mosaic, a 12-hour long-form TV project for HBO in collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh. This production would mark the first in a series of collaborations with Soderbergh, including the neo-noir film No Sudden Move in 2021 and, more recently, the crime series Full Circle, which premiered July 13, 2023. He married Cynthia Cleese, daughter of Connie Booth and John Cleese, in 1995. They have two children and divorced in 2011. Solomon is Jewish. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ed Solomon, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Bill & Ted Face the Music poster
5.9

Yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, the stakes are higher than ever for the now middle-aged Bill and Ted who set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it.

Bill & Ted Face the Music

2020

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure poster
6.8

Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

1989

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey poster
6.3

Amiable slackers Bill and Ted are once again roped into a fantastical adventure when De Nomolos, a villain from the future, sends evil robot duplicates of the two lads to terminate and replace them. The robot doubles actually succeed in killing Bill and Ted, but the two are determined to escape the afterlife, challenging the Grim Reaper to a series of games in order to return to the land of the living.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

1991

Barry Munday poster
5.7

Barry Munday, a libido-driven wage slave who spends all his time either ogling, fantasizing about, or trying to pick up women, wakes up in hospital after a freak attack only to find that his testicles have been removed.

Barry Munday

2010

Mom and Dad Save the World poster
4.9

Emperor Spengo sees Marge Nelson and using a giant magnet, kidnaps her and her husband Dick, hoping to make Marge his before blowing up the Earth. The Emperor and other inhabitants of his planet are somewhat less than bright, and Dick begins reliving episodes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in order to rescue Marge, save the Earth, and restore the rightful emperor to the throne.

Mom and Dad Save the World

1992

Leaving Normal poster
6.0

Darly, a waitress with a past that's weighing her down, decides to drive to Alaska to try and come to terms with her unfortunate history. Along the way, she meets Marianne, an impulsive young woman leaving an abusive relationship. The two hit the road together and keep driving north, bonding over the hardships that they have endured and meeting a number of eccentric characters as they get closer to their destination.

Leaving Normal

1992

Dreams on Spec poster
5.7

"Dreams on Spec" takes an intimate look at how far people will go - and how much they will sacrifice - for the chance to pursue their dreams. This feature-length documentary delves into the lives of three aspiring Hollywood screenwriters as they pour their hearts into their spec scripts, pitch their ideas to anyone who will listen, go to meetings, hold table reads, and work at low-level day-jobs - all in the hopes of one day seeing one of their beloved creations made into a movie. These poignant portraits are intercut with wisdom from a "Greek Chorus" of superstar Hollywood creative-types like James L. Brooks, Nora Ephron, Gary Ross, and Carrie Fisher to forge a funny and compelling look at inspiration, creativity, and solitude in the movie industry.

Dreams on Spec

2007

The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Ed Solomon poster
NR

Ed Solomon, screenwriter for blockbusters such as Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Men in Black, sits down for an in-depth interview about life in the Hollywood fast lane, from breaking into the business to having a script produced. Entertaining, informative and candid, Solomon reveals what the life of a working industry screenwriter is really like in both television and film.

The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Ed Solomon

2007

Behind the camera

Charlie's Angels poster
5.9

The captivating crime-fighting trio who are masters of disguise, espionage and martial arts are back! When a devious mastermind embroils them in a plot to destroy individual privacy, the Angels, aided by their loyal sidekick Bosley, set out to bring down the bad guys. But when a terrible secret is revealed, it makes the Angels targets for assassination.

Charlie's Angels

2000

Now You See Me poster
7.3

An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.

Now You See Me

2013

Men in Black poster
7.2

After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent K and new recruit Agent J find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies.

Men in Black

1997

Now You See Me 2 poster
6.8

One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their mind-bending spectacles, the Four Horsemen resurface only to find themselves face to face with a new enemy who enlists them to pull off their most dangerous heist yet.

Now You See Me 2

2016

Bill & Ted Face the Music poster
5.9

Yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, the stakes are higher than ever for the now middle-aged Bill and Ted who set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it.

Bill & Ted Face the Music

2020

Bill & Ted Face the Music poster
5.9

Yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, the stakes are higher than ever for the now middle-aged Bill and Ted who set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it.

Bill & Ted Face the Music

2020

The Christophers poster
6.8

The estranged children of a once-famous artist hire a forger to complete his unfinished works so they can be "discovered" and sold after his death.

The Christophers

2026

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure poster
6.8

Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

1989

No Sudden Move poster
6.4

A group of criminals are brought together under mysterious circumstances and have to work together to uncover what's really going on when their simple job goes completely sideways.

No Sudden Move

2021

Super Mario Bros. poster
4.5

Mario and Luigi, plumbers from Brooklyn, find themselves in an alternate universe where evolved dinosaurs live in hi-tech squalor. They're the only hope to save our universe from invasion by the dino dictator, Koopa.

Super Mario Bros.

1993

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey poster
6.3

Amiable slackers Bill and Ted are once again roped into a fantastical adventure when De Nomolos, a villain from the future, sends evil robot duplicates of the two lads to terminate and replace them. The robot doubles actually succeed in killing Bill and Ted, but the two are determined to escape the afterlife, challenging the Grim Reaper to a series of games in order to return to the land of the living.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

1991

Imagine That poster
6.0

A financial executive who can't stop his career downspiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await.

Imagine That

2009

Imagine That poster
6.0

A financial executive who can't stop his career downspiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await.

Imagine That

2009

What Planet Are You From? poster
5.4

A human-looking alien from a highly advanced but emotionless all-male society is sent to Earth to impregnate a woman and bring the child back to their planet. The alien ends up falling in love while a suspicious FAA agent tails him.

What Planet Are You From?

2000

Levity poster
6.1

Manuel Jordan is a man who is free after serving 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the newly paroled man seeks redemption. Instead, redemption—in the form of a mysterious minister and two needy women— finds him.

Levity

2003

Levity poster
6.1

Manuel Jordan is a man who is free after serving 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the newly paroled man seeks redemption. Instead, redemption—in the form of a mysterious minister and two needy women— finds him.

Levity

2003

Levity poster
6.1

Manuel Jordan is a man who is free after serving 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the newly paroled man seeks redemption. Instead, redemption—in the form of a mysterious minister and two needy women— finds him.

Levity

2003

The In-Laws poster
5.6

Right before his daughter's wedding, a mild-mannered foot doctor discovers that his new in-laws are international smugglers.

The In-Laws

2003

Mom and Dad Save the World poster
4.9

Emperor Spengo sees Marge Nelson and using a giant magnet, kidnaps her and her husband Dick, hoping to make Marge his before blowing up the Earth. The Emperor and other inhabitants of his planet are somewhat less than bright, and Dick begins reliving episodes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in order to rescue Marge, save the Earth, and restore the rightful emperor to the throne.

Mom and Dad Save the World

1992

Leaving Normal poster
6.0

Darly, a waitress with a past that's weighing her down, decides to drive to Alaska to try and come to terms with her unfortunate history. Along the way, she meets Marianne, an impulsive young woman leaving an abusive relationship. The two hit the road together and keep driving north, bonding over the hardships that they have endured and meeting a number of eccentric characters as they get closer to their destination.

Leaving Normal

1992

No artwork available
NR

An updated version of "The Hardy Boys," with the titular perpetual teenagers finally grown up, but still up to their old tricks.

The Hardy Men