James Watkins

James Watkins (birthname: James Thomas Watkins) is a British screenwriter and director who has specialized in the horror genre since debuting in features as screenwriter of the Marc Evans-directed horror movie, My Little Eye (2002), produced by Universal Pictures/Studio Canal/Working Title Films. Watkins was the screenwriter of the UK/Australia psychological horror movie set in the Australian outback, Gone (2007), directed by Ringan Ledwidge and co-starring Shaun Evans, Scott Mechlowicz, and Amelia Warner, and released by Universal Pictures.

Watkins debuted his directing-writing feature with the horror-thriller, Eden Lake (2008), co-starring Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, and Jack O’Connell, and released by Optimum Releasing after premiering at Fantasy Filmfest. Watkins was then both a co-screenwriter (with credited co-writers James McCarthy and J Blakeson) and second unit director of the British-made sequel, The Descent: Part 2 (2009), directed by Jon Harris and featuring Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, and Douglas Hodge, and grossing $7 million for Warner Bros.

James Watkins was director only of the hit Gothic horror movie, The Woman in Black (2012), based on Susan Hill’s 1983 Gothic novel, and starring Daniel Radcliffe (in one of his first post-Harry Potter starring roles), Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, and Liz White, and which was produced in part by Hammer Films (whose classic horror style was closely modeled by the movie) and released to great returns ($129 million gross against $17 million expenses) by CBS Films in the U.S. and other distributors in various territories. Watkins took on his second movie as director/writer (with co-writer Andrew Baldwin) in a rare detour into the action genre with the Paris-set international production, The Take (2016), starring Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Charlotte Le Bon, Eriq Ebouaney, and Jose Garcia, released by High Top Releasing/StudioCanal to a $15 million box office result.

Watkins returned as director/writer of the psychological horror movie, Speak No Evil (2024), an English-language remake of director/co-writer Christian Tafdrup’s 2022 Danish original produced by Jason Blum and Paul Ritchie, starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNary, and Aisling Franciosi, and released by Universal Pictures.