JAMES JACKS (Producer) produced A Simple Plan, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda, directed by Sam Raimi; and The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser. Jacks is currently producing The Mummy Returns, again starring Fraser, and Down to Earth, starring Chris Rock.
Jacks graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and from Cornell University with an MBA. After working as an operations analyst for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he moved to Los Angeles to study screenwriting. Over the next three years he wrote seven screenplays, four of which were optioned.
Jacks then went to work for Circle Theaters, which led to Circle distributing Blood Simple and Jacks serving as executive producer of Raising Arizona.
Jacks then became vice president of acquisitions for Universal Pictures. During his five years in this capacity (ultimately becoming executive vice president of production), he was involved in such films as Field of Dreams, Do the Right Thing, Darkman, Tremors, Jungle Fever, American Me and People Under the Stairs. In 1992, Jacks left Universal to go into partnership with Sean Daniel, and the duo formed the Alphaville company.
Together, Jacks and Daniel have produced Rat Race, directed by Jerry Zucker with an all star cast; Dazed and Confused, directed by Richard Linklater; Hard Target, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and directed by acclaimed Hong Kong director John Woo; Heart and Souls, starring Robert Downey Jr., Charles Grodin and Alfre Woodard and directed by Ron Underwood; Tombstone, starring Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer and an all-star cast, directed by George Cosmatos; Mallrats, directed by Kevin Smith; The Gulf, written and directed by Nora Ephron; and The Jackal, starring Richard Gere and Bruce Willis.
Upcoming projects for Jacks include Scorpion King directed by Chuck Russell, staring The Rock; Hot Springs, starring Billy Bob Thornton; and Dogs of Winter, written by Kem Nunn and Scott Rosenberg, based on the novel by Nunn.
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