Tim Story

Tim Story (birthname: Timothy Kevin Story) is a veteran Hollywood director-producer who has directed features in various franchises, ranging from Barbershop (2002) to Fantastic Four (2005) to Think Like a Man (2012) to Ride Along (2014). Story’s directorial debut (as well as editor), following his graduation from the USC film school, was the low-budget indie drama, One of Us Tripped (1997).

This film and Story’s next—as both director, writer, and editor—starred Kevin Mambo, in the crime drama, Firing Squad (1999). Story jumped to the studio big leagues on his third directorial feature, the hit comedy, Barbershop, which established him as one to watch among the rising new generation of Black Hollywood filmmakers, and co-starring Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Troy Garity, Keith David, and Cedric the Entertainer, and grossing a strong $77 million for MGM.

Tim parlayed this success into another hit ($71 million grossing) comedy, Taxi (2004), co-starred Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, and Gisele Bündchen, and adapted from Luc Besson’s original French-language hit of the same title (and co-produced by Besson’s EuropaCorp). Tim Story’s profile shot up even higher as director of the launch of the Marvel franchise, Fantastic Four, with Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chikllis, and Kerry Washington, earning a potent $333.5 million globally.

This led to Story directing the sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2005), with new cast members Laurence Fishburne and Andre Braugher, and earning 20^th Century Fox a solid $302 million. Story displayed his versatility and commercial acumen once again as director of Sony’s hit (a $96 million take on a $12 million budget) rom-com, Think Like a Man, co-starring Michael Ealy, Jerry Ferrara, Meagan Good, Regina Hall, Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Gabrielle Union, and Chris Brown. Tim Story re-teamed with both Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, and Laurence Fishburne for yet another hit, the Universal Pictures buddy cop comedy, Ride Along, which earned over six times costs with a global gross of $154.5 million.

Story continued his remarkable hit streak by consecutively directing both sequels to his previous hits: first, Think Like a Man Too (2014), reuniting the original cast and grossing a good $70 million, and then Ride Along 2 (2016), adding new cast members Ken Jeong and Benjamin Bratt, and earning a sweet $124.6 million worldwide for Universal; Story was also director of the third entry in the franchise, Ride Along 3 (date to be determined).

Tim Story’s hit streak ended with his remake as director of Shaft (2019), starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jesse T. Usher, Regina Hall, Alexandra Shipp, and Richard Roundtree, followed by a more commercially successful project, Story’s first feature blending animation and live-action, Tom & Jerry (2021), based on the Hanna-Barbera characters and released by Warners, with live-action actors Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Colin Jost, Rob Delaney, and Jeong; Story not only executive-produced but also performed a character voice (Pigeon Announcer).

As producer-director, Story successfully returned to his low-budget roots but in an entirely new genre for the well-received horror comedy, The Blackening (2022), with Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, and Yvonne Orji, and which premiered at the Toronto film festival. The story was once again director for a Kevin Hart-starring comedy with Universal, My Own Worst Enemy (date to be announced), as well as a more epic project starring Hart and written by Andrew Niccol, Monopoly (2027).