Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Dutch filmmaker, writer and producer (born 1965)

Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Born|  (1965-07-26) 26 July 1965 (age 60)

Amsterdam, Netherlands[1]

Occupation(s)| Director, producer, writer
Years active| 1983–present

Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. (Dutch pronunciation: [mɑˈtɛis fɑn ˈɦɛinɪŋə(n)];[a] born 26 July 1965) is a Dutch director, writer and producer best known for directing The Thing (2011).

## Career

[edit]

Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. began directing at an early age with promotional trailers for Toyota, Peugeot, Renault, Stella Artois, Pepsi, and Bud Light.[2]

In 1996, van Heijningen made his film directing debut with the Dutch short-film thriller Red Rain.[3] In 2011, he directed The Thing, a prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing.[4] Van Heijningen was due to direct Army of the Dead,[5] but the project ended up being directed by Zack Snyder after lingering in development hell for a number of years.

In 2020, van Heijningen directed his second feature The Forgotten Battle, a Netflix original war film depicting the Battle of the Scheldt. Netflix's first ever original Dutch film.

## Filmography

[edit]

Director

Year  | Title  | Director  | Writer  | Producer

|
|
|
|

1996  | Red Rain (short film)  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes
2011  | The Thing | Yes  | No  | No
2020  | The Forgotten Battle | Yes  | Yes  | No
2024  | De Joodse Raad (miniseries)  | Yes  | No  | Yes

Producer

* Dada (1994)
* Witness (1994)
* En Route (1994)

Other credits

Year  | Title  | Role

|
|

1983  | De Lift | Set Decorator
1984  | Ciske de Rat | Assistant lighting technician
1991  | Saudade | Cinematographer
1992  | Voor een verloren soldaat | Assistant editor

## Personal life

[edit]

He is the son of Dutch film producer Matthijs van Heijningen[6]

He lives in the Leidsebuurt[1] in Amsterdam.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ In isolation, van is pronounced [vɑn].

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Mensen: Matthijs van Heijningen jr. – Archief – de Volkskrant
2. ^ Van Heijningen jr – Nieuwsselectie: Media
3. ^ Matthijs van Heijningen to Raise the Army of the Dead
4. ^ The Thing Prequel Begins Lensing This March
5. ^ Sciretta, Peter (4 June 2008). "Matthijs van Heijningen set to direct "Army of the Dead"". /Film. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
6. ^ Van Heyningen Jr gaat het vervolg op The Thing regisseren

## External links

[edit]

* Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. at IMDb

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Norway

Other|

* Yale LUX