James V. Hart

James V. Hart
Hart in 2011
Born	1950 (age 73–74) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter author
Years active	1984–present
Spouse	Judith Nugent
Children	2; including Julia Hart

James V. Hart (born 1950) is an American screenwriter and author. He is known for his literary adaptations, such as Hook (1991), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994).

Career

Writing

Hart wrote the screenplay to the Steven Spielberg feature film Hook which functioned as a sequel to J. M. Barrie's original story, with Peter Pan having grown into adulthood. Later, he wrote the 2005 children's novel Capt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth, a prequel depicting the youth of Captain Hook, the nemesis of Peter Pan. He wrote the Francis Ford Coppola-produced horror films Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994).

Hart's writing focuses on adventure and fantasy fare, such as Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003), and Epic (2013). He co-created the pirate television drama Crossbones with Luther writer Neil Cross based on Colin Woodard's book The Republic of Pirates. On July 24, 2014, NBC announced that Crossbones had been canceled after one season.

Unmade screenplays

Hart wrote the first draft screenplay of Atlas Shrugged, which was to be fully developed by director Randall Wallace. Hart also wrote an adaptation of The Sirens of Titan, which Kurt Vonnegut approved of before he died, a screenplay adaptation for Crisis in the Hot Zone which was later adapted into a television series in 2019. In 2012, it was announced that TNT would create a television series based on the Dean Koontz's Frankenstein novels.

Teaching

Hart has been a faculty member of the Columbia University Graduate Film program and has mentored for Sundance Film Labs, the Austin Writer’s Ranch, and the Equinoxe-Europe Writing Workshops.

Personal life

Hart is the son of Albert Hart and Alice Hart. He has one brother, David (deceased). He studied film and graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1969. He lives in New York with his wife Judith. Their two children, Jake and Julia, are also screenwriters.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Notes
1974	Dirty O'Neil	No	Yes	Associate producer
1977	The Ransom	No	Yes
1984	Gimme an 'F'	Yes	No
1991	Hook	Yes	Yes	Executive producer
1992	Bram Stoker's Dracula	Yes	Yes	Co-producer
1994	Mary Shelley's Frankenstein	No	Yes
1996	Muppet Treasure Island	Yes	No
1997	Contact	Yes	No
2002	Tuck Everlasting	Yes	No
2003	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life	Yes	No	Story by
2005	Sahara	Yes	No
2007	The Last Mimzy	Yes	No
2007	August Rush	Yes	No
2013	Epic	Yes	Yes	Executive producer
2023	The Last Voyage of the Demeter	Yes	No	received off-screen additional literary material credit.

Television

Year	Title	Notes	Network
2001	Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story	Miniseries	CBS
2014	Crossbones	Co-creator	NBC
2019-present	The Hot Zone	Creator, also executive producer	National Geographic

External links

• James V. Hart at IMDb
• Interview about Hook on www.hook-movie.com