Peter Berg is an American director, actor, and screenwriter. Comic fans know him from the superhero action movie Hancock, and comedy lovers from the movie Very Wild Things. Berg makes films of various genres, but prefers action films and thrillers. Among the acting works of Peter Berg, the thriller “Trump Aces” gained the greatest popularity.
The first directorial work
The directorial debut for Peter Berg was the black comedy "Very Wild Things", filmed by him in 1998. Although the film had a small budget of only $ 10 million, the leading Hollywood stars - Cameron Diaz, Christian Slater and John Favreau - agreed to play the main roles. From critics and viewers, the picture received mixed reviews.
In 2003, Berg decided to try his hand at the adventure thriller genre, taking up work on Amazon's Treasure. This film of Berg was more liked by critics, but failed at the box office - with a budget of $ 85 million, box office receipts amounted to only 80 million.
The next project in Berg's directorial career was the sports drama "In the Glory". This film was successful in all respects: it earned the approval of critics, went well at the box office, and collected several prestigious film awards. Thanks to this picture, Berg gained recognition in the world of cinema.
Further career
In 2007, the political action movie Kingdom was released, directed by Peter Berg. The film is about a group of FBI agents investigating a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. The main roles went to Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jamie Foxx. It was one of the first Hollywood films to condemn international terrorism in Saudi Arabia. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.
A year later, director Peter Berg took on the first blockbuster of his career - Hancock. For the role of the brutal and irresponsible superhero Hancock, Berg chose Will Smith. The film was a box office hit, collecting $ 625 million at the box office. It is on the Hancock tape that most viewers now know Berg.
In 2012, the director’s filmography was replenished with another blockbuster - he was entrusted with the work on the fantastic action movie “Sea Battle”, for which the Universal film company allocated more than $ 200 million. Unlike previous films by Peter Berg, “Sea Battle” did not win much love from critics and spectators.
In 2014, Berg directed the sci-fi series Left behind. The literary source for the series was the novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta, quite popular in the United States. Unlike the book, the television series did not have much success and was closed by the producers after the third season due to low ratings.
The last film so far in Berg’s directorial career is the action movie “22 Miles,” which featured Mark Wahlberg and Lauren Cohen. According to film critics, the film turned out to be unsuccessful, they expressed especially many reproaches to the script and dialogues. "22 miles" barely recouped at the box office their 35 millionth budget.
Acting
Peter Berg is known primarily as a director, but he began his career as an actor. Berg made his television debut in 1988, playing a small role in the detective series Jump Street 21.
Already in 1989, the actor got the main role in the Wes Craven horror "Electroshock". Unlike other Craven films, this tape has not gained much popularity.
The next 10 years in the acting career of Peter Berg were not remarkable projects. He starred in films and almost always played the main roles, but mostly these were low-budget or television films that did not succeed. In 1992, Berg appeared in the military drama "Night End", which critics liked very much, but failed miserably at the box office. More successful for the actor was the fantastic thriller “Fire in the Sky” and the drama “Last Seduction”. They earned the approval of critics and recouped their budget, but these films did not bring the long-awaited fame to Peter Berg.
In 1998, the actor played the role of a doctor in his own film, "Very Wild Things." Then Peter Berg realized that he liked making films much more than acting in them. However, now he sometimes agrees to roles in films. So, in 2006, Berg played the role of the corrupt cop Pete Dix in the action movie Trump Aces, and so far this is the most significant role in his acting career.
Personal life
In 1993, Berg married Elizabeth Rogers, an agent for Calvin Clein. In 1998, the couple divorced. Peter Berg has two children from this marriage.