Derek Connolly

Derek Connolly (born c. 1976) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He is best known for his collaborations with filmmaker Colin Trevorrow, and has written the films Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), Jurassic World (2015) and its sequels Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022), Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Detective Pikachu (2019). He also co-wrote the unproduced original draft of Star Wars: Duel of the Fates, which became Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Education

Connolly attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School in Miami and New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Career

Connolly was listed on Variety's Ten Screenwriters to Watch in 2012. Connolly rewrote Kong: Skull Island (2017), for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. Connolly co-wrote early (and ultimately uncredited) drafts of Pacific Rim: Uprising with Guillermo del Toro, Jon Spaihts and Zak Penn; the final screenplay was by Steven S. DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder and T.S. Nowlin; based on characters by Travis Beacham and del Toro Connolly and his writing partner Colin Trevorrow co-wrote the screenplays for Jurassic World (2015) and its sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), and by February 2018, had written a story treatment for Jurassic World Dominion, was released on June 10, 2022. Connolly and Trevorrow also co-wrote the first draft of Star Wars: Duel of the Fates, the final film of Star Wars sequel trilogy, but both left after Trevorrow stepped down as director, they were later replaced by Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams (who eventually replaced Trevorrow as director) and Chris Terrio; however Connolly and Trevorrow received a story credit with Abrams and Terrio on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Connolly was reported to be working on a remake of the film Flight of the Navigator, as well as writing an upcoming original Pixar film directed by Teddy Newton and a live action Legend of Zelda film directed by Wes Ball and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad. Connolly has been tapped to pen the script for a Metal Gear film.