Terry P. Rossio (born July 2, 1960) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He co-wrote the films Aladdin, The Mask of Zorro, Shrek, and all five of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. For Shrek, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and won the Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production and BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He often collaborates with fellow screenwriter Ted Elliott.
Life and career Rossio was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, California, he went on to study at California State University, Fullerton where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications, with an emphasis in radio, television and film. He is the founder of Wordplay, also known as Wordplayer.com, one of the premier screenwriting sites on the Internet.
Along with his writing partner Ted Elliott, Rossio has written some of the most successful American films of the past 30 years, including Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Shrek. He is the eleventh-most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of domestic box office receipts with totals at around $5.5 billion. In May 1993, Rossio and Elliott were hired by TriStar Pictures to write a screenplay for Godzilla, which featured Godzilla battling a shape-shifting alien in New York. Their script was dropped by Roland Emmerich in favor of a new script of his own co–written with Dean Devlin. However, Rossio and Elliott retained a "Story By" credit.
In 2011, Terry Rossio was working on a script for a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film without his partner Ted Elliott. Rossio's script was discarded in 2012, and the writer stated on his website Wordplay that a major reason was its use of a female villain, which made actor Johnny Depp "worried that it would be redundant to Dark Shadows, which also featured a female villain." By January 2013, Disney hired Jeff Nathanson, with whom Rossio shared co-story credit with. Following the theatrical release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in 2017, Rossio released his unproduced screenplay, and made it available on Wordplay.
In 2015, Dodie Gold Management filed a Commissions Non-Payment Lawsuit against Rossio and sought a jury trial for "damages of more than $25,000 plus a court declaration that they are entitled to the 10% commissions and a full look at the records and accounting of Rossio and his Chamaeleon Productions." In March 2017, Legendary Entertainment announced that Rossio would lead their writers room to help develop the story for Godzilla vs. Kong. He received "story by" credit on the film. In June 2019, Rossio was announced as the screenwriter for The Amazing Maurice.
In 2021, Rossio and Bill Marsilii sold their spec script Time Zone to Amazon Studios. The film will be a joint venture between Amazon Studios and Davis Entertainment.
In February 2023 Ashly Bell and Dr. Bernice A King (daughter of Martin Luther King) announced their intent to executive produce Cash Money, written by Terry Rossio and Kevin Arbouet, concurrent with the launch of ReadLife Entertainment, which plans to create television and film projects centered around strong social messaging. Arbouet is going to direct Cash Money.
Controversy On November 23, 2018, Rossio expressed his condolences to parents of "vaccine damaged children", however, he likened the term "anti-vax" to a slur equivalent to "nigger." Following immediate outcry, he apologized the day after for using the slur and for proclaiming that both epithets were analogous.
Filmography Year Film Credit Notes Ref. 1989 Little Monsters Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott 1992 Aladdin Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott & Ron Clements and John Musker 1994 The Puppet Masters Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott and David S. Goyer 1998 The Mask of Zorro Screenplay byStory by Co-wrote screenplay with John Eskow and Ted ElliottCo-wrote story with Ted Elliott and Randall Jahnson Godzilla Story by Early unproduced screenplay; Co-wrote with Ted Elliott Small Soldiers Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott & Gavin Scott and Adam Rifkin1999 Men in BlackScreenplay byCo-worked with Ted Elliott; uncredited 2000 The Road to El Dorado Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott 2001 Shrek Written byCo-producer Co-wrote with Ted Elliott & Joe Stillman and Roger S. H. Schulman 2002 Treasure Planet Story by Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Ron Clements and John Musker 2003 Pirates of the Caribbean:The Curse of the Black Pearl Screenplay byStory by Co-wrote screenplay with Ted ElliottCo-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert 2005 The Legend of Zorro Story by Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman2006 Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott Déjà Vu Written byExecutive producer Co-wrote with Bill Marsilii2007 Pirates of the Caribbean:At World's End Written by Co-wrote with Ted Elliott National Treasure:Book of Secrets Story by Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Gregory Poirier & Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley 2009 G-Force Associate producer Uncredited rewrite 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean:On Stranger Tides Screenplay byExecutive producer Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott Pirates of the Caribbean:Tales of the Code – Wedlocked Written by Short film; Co-wrote with Ted Elliott2013 Lovestruck: The Musical Written byExecutive producer TV film; Co-wrote with Jaylynn Bailey The Lone Ranger Screenplay byExecutive producer Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott and Justin Haythe 2017 Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Men Tell No Tales Story byExecutive producer Early unproduced screenplay; co-story credit with Jeff Nathanson 2019 Aladdin Based on Credited with Ron Clements & John Musker and Ted Elliott 2021 Godzilla vs. Kong Story by Head of writers room; co-wrote story with Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields 2022 The Amazing Maurice Screenplay by 2024 Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Screenplay byStory byCo-wrote script with Jeremy Slater and Simon BarrettCo-wrote story with Barrett and Adam Wingard
Other credits Year Film Role1997Men in BlackAdditional literary material (uncredited) 1998 Antz Creative consultant/advisor 2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas2004 Shrek 2 Creative consultantKing ArthurAdditional literary material (uncredited)National TreasureAdditional literary material (uncredited) 2008The Spiderwick ChroniclesAdditional literary material (uncredited) 2015 Jake and the Never Land Pirates Episode #89 – Captain FrostCo-wrote storyboards with Ted Elliott2016Star Trek BeyondAdditional literary material (uncredited)2021Arcane: League of LegendsWriting consultant
References
External links Terry Rossio Website via Wordplayer