Early life

Johnston was born in Austin, Texas, and attended California State University, Long Beach, and Pasadena's Art Center College of Design.

Career

Design and visual effects

Much of the work at the beginning of Johnston's screen career combined design and special effects. He began his career as a concept artist and effects technician on the first Star Wars film, directed by George Lucas, and was art director on one of the effects teams for the sequel. His association with Lucas would later prove fruitful, when he became one of four to win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Lucas and Steven Spielberg's film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Johnston continued to work on many films as an effects expert.

He was also associate producer on fantasy Willow, and production designer on two mid-80s TV movies which featured the Ewoks seen in Return of the Jedi.

Johnston is also author of Star Wars novel The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense, which ties into Return of the Jedi (New York: Random House, 1984; ISBN 0-394-86568-5, ISBN 0-394-96568-X).

In 1984, Lucas gave Johnston a sabbatical, with salary, and paid his tuition to attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Johnston left after a year, saying he "was asked not to return" because he "broke too many rules".

Directing

Johnston made his directorial debut in 1989 with hit comedy adventure Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, starring Rick Moranis. He followed it with comic-book adaptation The Rocketeer (1991). The film was a commercial failure, as was his next, the animated and live-action The Pagemaster. Johnston rebounded, directing the family hit Jumanji, starring Robin Williams. The film overcame lukewarm reviews to gross over $260 million.

Johnston was set to direct Hulk, but dropped out in July 1997. Johnston then switched gears from effects-driven action films to the more personal October Sky (1999), starring a teenage Jake Gyllenhaal as a 1950s West Virginia high school student who dreams of being a rocket scientist for NASA against his father's wishes. Based on a true story, the film won Johnston both acclaim and awards.

Johnston's first project of the 2000s was the sequel Jurassic Park III, which made over US$300 million at the box office. Johnston followed it with western Hidalgo, starring Viggo Mortensen. Johnston then took a six-year directorial break before signing on at a month's notice to take over the 2010 remake of 1941 horror classic The Wolfman. Shot in England, the film starred Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins.

In part thanks to his experience with the period superhero film The Rocketeer, Johnston was selected to direct Marvel Studios superhero adaptation Captain America: The First Avenger. Released on July 22, 2011, the film stars Chris Evans as the comic book hero and Hugo Weaving as his archenemy the Red Skull.

In 2012 Johnston began directing thriller Not Safe for Work.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Effects Artist	Art Director	Notes
1977	Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope			Yes
1980	The Empire Strikes Back			Yes	Yes
1981	Raiders of the Lost Ark			Yes	Yes
1983	Return of the Jedi				Yes
1984	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom				Yes
1986	Howard the Duck				Yes	Ultralight sequence designer
1987	*batteries not included					Second unit director, production manager
1988	Willow		Yes
1989	Always				Yes	Aerial sequence designer
	Honey, I Shrunk the Kids	Yes
1991	The Rocketeer	Yes
1994	The Pagemaster	Yes				Live-action scenes
1995	Jumanji	Yes
1999	October Sky	Yes
2001	Jurassic Park III	Yes
2004	Hidalgo	Yes
2010	The Wolfman	Yes
2011	Captain America: The First Avenger	Yes
2014	Not Safe for Work	Yes

Television

Year	Title	Notes
1978-1979	Battlestar Galactica	Effects illustration and design
1984	The Ewok Adventure	Production Designer TV movie
1985	Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
	Star Wars: Droids	Writer Episode: "Coby and the Starhunters"
1993	The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	Director Episode: "Princeton, February 1916"

Critical reception

Film	Rotten Tomatoes
	Overall
*batteries not included (1987)	64%
Willow (1988)	48%
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)	73%
The Rocketeer (1991)	61%
The Pagemaster (1994)	18%
Jumanji (1995)	50%
October Sky (1999)	90%
Jurassic Park III (2001)	50%
Hidalgo (2004)	47%
The Wolfman (2010)	35%
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)	80%
Not Safe for Work (2014)	27%

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1981	Academy Award	Best Visual Effects	Raiders of the Lost Ark	Won
1990	International Fantasy Film Award	Best Film	Honey, I Shrunk the Kids	Nominated
1992	Hugo Award	Best Dramatic Presentation	The Rocketeer	Nominated
1995	International Fantasy Film Award	Best Film	The Pagemaster	Nominated
1996	Saturn Award	Best Director	Jumanji	Nominated
	Young Artist Award	Best Family Feature - Action-Adventure		Won
1999	Ajijic International Film Festival Award	Best Film	October Sky	Won
2001	Saturn Award	Best Science Fiction Film	Jurassic Park III	Nominated
	Golden Trailer Award	Best Horror/Thriller Film		Nominated
	Golden Raspberry Award	Worst Remake or Sequel		Nominated
2004	Golden Trailer Award	Best Drama	Hidalgo	Nominated
2010	Saturn Award	Best Horror/Thriller Film	The Wolfman	Nominated
2012	Hugo Award	Best Dramatic Presentation	Captain America: The First Avenger	Nominated
	Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Award	Best Film		Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]