Michael Brandt

Michael Brandt and Derek Haas are the force behind such engaging, fast-paced, kinetic screenplays as 2008's blockbuster “Wanted.” Brandt and Haas' adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel starred James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie and grossed $339 million worldwide.

The pair worked together on THE DOUBLE, which marks Brandt's directorial debut. They wrote the screenplay together and the film was shot in Detroit. The film is about a retired CIA agent who has to work with a younger FBI agent to solve a senator's movie.

Brandt and Haas adapted the novel “The Thirteenth Hour” for New Line Cinema with Michael DeLuca as a producer. The story follows a man falsely accused of brutally murdering his wife who is given an opportunity to go back in time, in one hour increments for 12 hours, to find and stop his wife's killer before it's too late.

Brandt and Haas also adapted “The Matarese Circle,” based on Robert Ludlum's novel, for MGM with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler as a producer, starred by Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise and directed by David Cronenberg.

Brandt and Haas first met at Baylor University in 1989, where they attended both undergraduate and graduate school. At Baylor, Brandt received an MA in Film and Haas graduated with an MA in English Literature. The duo started writing screenplays together in the mid 1990s.

Their first produced work, Universal's “2 Fast 2 Furious,” has amassed over $236M in worldwide box office. In September 2007, Brandt and Haas wrote the number one box office film, the remake “3:10 To Yuma,” starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, directed by James Mangold.

In addition to their thriving writing partnership, Brandt has been hired to direct “Countdown,” based on the Richard Matheson short story “Death Ship” with Haas producing and both Brandt and Haas writing. Haas's first novel, “The Silver Bear,” a thriller centered on the life of an assassin, was published by Pegasus books (distributed by Norton) in July 2008.

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