Christopher Joseph Columbus (born September 10, 1958) is an American filmmaker. Born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, Columbus studied film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. After writing screenplays for several teen comedies in the mid-1980s, including Gremlins, The Goonies, and Young Sherlock Holmes, he made his directorial debut with a teen adventure, Adventures in Babysitting(1987). Columbus gained recognition soon after with the highly successful Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). The comedy Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), starring Robin Williams, was another box-office success for Columbus. He went on to direct several other films throughout the 1990s, which were mostly met with lukewarm reception. However, he found commercial success again by directing the film adaptations of J. K. Rowling's novels Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). In addition to directing, Columbus was a producer for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), as well as the drama The Help(2011). He also directed the fantasy Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief(2010) and the 3D action comedy Pixels (2015). Columbus is the co-founder of 1492 Pictures, a film production company that has produced some of his films since 1995. More recently, he co-founded another production firm with his daughter in 2014 called Maiden Voyage Pictures. In 2017, he launched ZAG Animation Studios, alongside Michael Barnathan, Haim Saban, and Jeremy Zag. Columbus is also known for his collaboration with composer John Williams, with whom he had worked on the film Home Alone and the film series Harry Potter. Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris Columbus, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2028Gremlins 3 — Producer, Director, Original Film Writer
• 2026The President's Cake — Executive Producer
• 2026Werwulf — Executive Producer
• 2025John Candy: I Like Me — Self - Director, Home Alone
• 2025The Thursday Murder Club — Director, Producer
• 2025The Voyage Out — Executive Producer
• 2024Dìdi (弟弟) — Executive Producer
• 2024Nosferatu — Producer
• 2023Chupa — Producer
• 2022Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again — Executive Producer
• 2022The Exiles — Executive Producer
• 2021Cusp — Executive Producer
• 2020Scoob! — Executive Producer
• 2020The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two — Director, Producer, Screenplay
• 2020Yes, God, Yes — Executive Producer
• 2019The Lighthouse — Executive Producer
• 2018The Christmas Chronicles — Producer
• 2017I Kill Giants — Producer
• 2017Menashe — Executive Producer
• 2017Patti Cake$ — Producer
• 2016It Had to Be You — Executive Producer
• 2016Tallulah — Producer
• 2016The Witch — Executive Producer
• 2016The Young Messiah — Producer
• 2015Mediterranea — Producer
• 2015Pixels — Director, Producer
• 2014Little Accidents — Executive Producer
• 2014Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb — Producer
• 2013Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters — Executive Producer
• 2012Applebaum — Executive Producer, Director
• Scary Larry — Producer
• 2011French Exchange — Executive Producer
• 2011The Help — Producer
• 2010Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief — Director, Producer
• 2009I Love You, Beth Cooper — Producer, Director
• 2009Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian — Producer
• 2009The Cove — Thanks
• 2007Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer — Executive Producer
• 2006Night at the Museum — Producer
• 20053-D Rocks — Director, Producer
• 2005Fantastic Four — Executive Producer
• 2005Rent — Producer, Director
• 2004Christmas with the Kranks — Screenplay, Producer
• 2004Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — Producer
• 2003Building a Scene
• 2002Capturing the Stone: A Conversation with the Filmmakers
• 2002Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — Director, Executive Producer
• 2001Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone — Director, Executive Producer
• 2001Monkeybone — Executive Producer
• 1999Bicentennial Man — Director, Producer
• 1998Stepmom — Director, Producer
• 1996Jingle All the Way — Producer
• 1995Nine Months — Screenplay, Producer, Director
• 1993Mrs. Doubtfire — Director
• 1992Home Alone 2: Lost in New York — Man in Toy Store (uncredited), Director
• 1991Only the Lonely — Director, Screenplay
• 1990Gremlins 2: The New Batch — Characters
• 1990Home Alone — Director
• 1989Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland — Screenplay
• 1988Heartbreak Hotel — Director, Writer
• 1987Adventures in Babysitting — Director
• Galaxy High School — Writer, Creator
• 1985The Goonies — Screenplay
• 1985Young Sherlock Holmes — Screenplay
• 1984Gremlins — Writer
• 1984Reckless — Writer
• 1980I Think I'm Going to Like it Here — Director
• A Christmas Carol — Producer
• Untitled Labyrinth Sequel — Producer

Appearances as themselves (13)

• 2024Child Star — Self - Director
• 2024Music by John Williams — Self - Filmmaker
• 100 Years of Warner Bros. — Self
• 2022Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts — Self
• Reunited Apart — Self
• The Movies That Made Us — Self
• 2014Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous: Making Gremlins — Self
• 2014From Gizmo to Gremlins: Creating the Creatures — Self
• 2012Daniel Radcliffe: Being Harry Potter — Self
• 2007Fog City Mavericks — Self
• 2006No Day But Today: The Story of 'Rent' — Self
• 2004The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing — Self
• 2004The Magic Touch of Harry Potter — Self