Query: Robert Zemeckis has made movies.

Relevant passages:
Romancing the Stone <=SEP=> Romancing the Stone is a 1984 American action-adventure romantic comedy . Directed by Robert Zemeckis , it stars Michael Douglas , Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito . The film was followed by a 1985 sequel , The Jewel of the Nile .   Romancing the Stone earned over $ 86,572,238 worldwide in box-office receipts . It also helped launch Turner to stardom , reintroduced Douglas to the public as a capable leading man , started Zemeckis ' frequent collaboration with Alan Silvestri , and gave Zemeckis his first box-office success . Decades later , it retains critical acclaim , with an 87 % approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes .

Back to the Future Part II <=SEP=> Back to the Future Part II is a 1989 American science-fiction adventure comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Bob Gale . It is the sequel to the 1985 film Back to the Future and the second installment in the Back to the Future trilogy . The film stars Michael J. Fox , Christopher Lloyd , Thomas F. Wilson , and Lea Thompson and continues immediately following the original film . After repairing the damage to history done by his previous time travel adventures , Marty McFly ( Fox ) and his friend Dr. Emmett `` Doc '' Brown ( Lloyd ) travel to 2015 to prevent McFly 's future son from ending up imprisoned . However , their presence allows Biff Tannen ( Wilson ) to steal Doc 's DeLorean time machine and travel to 1955 , where he alters history by making his younger self wealthy .   The film was produced on a $ 40-million budget and was filmed back-to-back with its sequel , Part III . Filming began in February 1989 after two years were spent building the sets and writing the scripts . Two actors from the first film , Crispin Glover and Claudia Wells , did not return for the final two . While Elisabeth Shue was recast in the role of Wells ' character , Jennifer , Glover 's character , George McFly , was not only minimized in the plot , but also was obscured and recreated with another actor . Glover successfully sued both Zemeckis and Gale , changing how producers can deal with the departure and replacement of actors in a role . Back to the Future Part II was also a ground-breaking project for effects studio Industrial Light & Magic ( ILM ) : In addition to digital compositing , ILM used the VistaGlide motion control camera system , which allowed an actor to portray multiple characters simultaneously on-screen without sacrificing camera movement .   Back to the Future Part II was released by Universal Pictures on November 22 , 1989 . The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $ 331 million worldwide , making it the third-highest-grossing film of 1989 .

Forrest Gump <=SEP=> Forrest Gump is a 1994 American comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom . The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Tom Hanks , Robin Wright , Gary Sinise , Mykelti Williamson , and Sally Field . The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump , a slow-witted but kind-hearted , good-natured and athletically prodigious man from Alabama , who witnesses , and in some cases influences , some of the defining events of the latter half of the 20th century in the United States ; more specifically , the period between Forrest 's birth in 1944 and 1982 . The film differs substantially from Winston Groom 's novel , including Gump 's personality and several events that were depicted .   Principal photography took place in late 1993 , mainly in Georgia , North Carolina , and South Carolina . Extensive visual effects were used to incorporate the protagonist into archived footage and to develop other scenes . A comprehensive soundtrack was featured in the film , using music intended to pinpoint specific time periods portrayed on screen . Its commercial release made it a top-selling soundtrack , selling over twelve million copies worldwide .   Released in the United States on July 6 , 1994 , Forrest Gump became a commercial success as the top-grossing film in North America released in that year , being the first major success for Paramount Pictures since the studio 's merger with Viacom , earning over worldwide during its theatrical run . In 1995 it won the Academy Awards for Best Picture , Best Director for Robert Zemeckis , Best Actor for Tom Hanks , Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth , Best Visual Effects , and Best Film Editing . It also garnered multiple other awards and nominations , including Golden Globes , People 's Choice Awards , and Young Artist Awards , among others . Since the film 's release varying interpretations have been made of the film 's protagonist and its political symbolism . In 1996 , a themed restaurant , Bubba Gump Shrimp Company , opened based on the film and has since expanded to multiple locations worldwide . The scene of Gump running across the country is often referred to when real-life people attempt the feat . In 2011 , the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' .

Academy Award for Best Director <=SEP=> The Academy Award for Best Director ( officially known as the Academy Award for Best Directing ) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ( AMPAS ) . It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry .   The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with the award being split into `` Dramatic '' and `` Comedy '' categories ; Frank Borzage and Lewis Milestone won for Seventh Heaven and Two Arabian Knights , respectively . However , these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies . Nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS ; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy .   For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards , directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year . However , after the nomination of Michael Curtiz for two films , Angels with Dirty Faces and Four Daughters , at the 11th Academy Awards , the rules were revised so that an individual could only be nominated for one film at each ceremony . That rule has since been amended , although the only director who has received multiple nominations in the same year was Steven Soderbergh for Erin Brockovich and Traffic in 2000 , winning the award for the latter . The Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history . Of the 89 films that have been awarded Best Picture , 63 have also been awarded Best Director . Since its inception , the award has been given to 69 directors or directing teams . John Ford has received the most awards in this category with four . William Wyler was nominated on twelve occasions , more than any other individual . As of the 2017 ceremony , Damien Chazelle is the most recent winner in this category for his work on La La Land . Chazelle also became the youngest director in history to receive this award , at the age of 32 . Two directing teams have shared the award ; Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story in 1961 and Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men in 2007 . The Coen brothers are the only siblings to have won the award .

The Polar Express (film) <=SEP=> The Polar Express is a 2004 American 3D computer-animated Christmas musical fantasy film based on the 1985 children 's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg , who served as one of the executive producers on the film . Written , produced , and directed by Robert Zemeckis , the film features human characters animated using live action motion capture animation . The film stars Daryl Sabara , Nona Gaye , Jimmy Bennett , and Eddie Deezen , with Tom Hanks in six distinct roles . The film also included a performance by Tinashe at age 9 , who later gained exposure as a pop singer in 2010 , as the CGI-model for the female protagonist .   Castle Rock Entertainment produced the film in association with Shangri-La Entertainment , ImageMovers , Playtone and Golden Mean , for Warner Bros. . Pictures , as Castle Rock 's first animated production . The visual effects and performance capture were done at Sony Pictures Imageworks . The film was made with a budget of $ 165 million , a record-breaking sum for an animated feature at the time . The film was released in both conventional and IMAX 3D theaters on November 10 , 2004 . It grossed $ 309 million worldwide , and was later listed in the 2006 Guinness World Book of Records as the first all-digital capture film . The film also marks Michael Jeter 's last acting role before his death , and the film was thus dedicated to his memory .

Back to the Future (franchise) <=SEP=> The Back to the Future franchise is an American science fiction -- comedy film series written and directed by Robert Zemeckis , produced by Bob Gale and Neil Canton for Steven Spielberg 's Amblin Entertainment , and distributed by Universal Pictures . The franchise follows the adventures of a high school student , Marty McFly ( Michael J. Fox ) , and an eccentric scientist , Dr. Emmett L. Brown ( Christopher Lloyd ) , as they use a DeLorean time machine to time travel to different periods in the history of Hill Valley , California .   The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon , leading to the second and third films , which were back-to-back film productions , released in 1989 and 1990 , respectively . Though the sequels did not perform quite as well at the box office as the first film , the trilogy remains immensely popular after 30 years and has yielded such spinoffs as an animated television series and a motion-simulation ride at the Universal Studios Theme Parks in Universal City , California ; Orlando , Florida ; and Osaka , Japan ( now closed ) , as well as a Microsoft Windows , Macintosh , iPad , PS3 , and Wii video game . The film 's visual effects were done by Industrial Light and Magic . The trilogy was nominated for five Academy Awards all together , winning one ( Best Sound Editing ) .

Who Framed Roger Rabbit <=SEP=> Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American live-action/animated fantasy neo-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis , produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts , and written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman . The film is based on Gary K. Wolf 's 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit ? The film stars Bob Hoskins , Christopher Lloyd , Charles Fleischer , Stubby Kaye , and Joanna Cassidy . Combining live-action and animation , the film is set in a Hollywood during the late 1940s where animated characters really exist . The story follows Eddie Valiant , a private detective who must exonerate `` Toon '' Roger Rabbit , who is accused of murdering a wealthy businessman .   Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights for Who Framed Roger Rabbit 's story in 1981 . Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman wrote two drafts of the script before Disney brought in executive producer Steven Spielberg , and his production company , Amblin Entertainment . Zemeckis was brought on to direct the film , and Canadian animator Richard Williams was hired to supervise the animation sequences . Production was moved from Los Angeles to Elstree Studios in England to accommodate Williams and his group of animators . While filming , the production budget began to rapidly expand and the shooting schedule ran longer than expected .   Disney released the film through its Touchstone Pictures division on June 22 , 1988 , to critical and commercial success , becoming a blockbuster . The film brought a renewed interest in the Golden Age of American animation , spearheading modern American animation and the Disney Renaissance .   In 2016 , the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' .

Robert Zemeckis <=SEP=> Robert Lee Zemeckis ( born May 14 , 1952 ) is an American filmmaker and screenwriter frequently credited as an innovator in visual effects . Credited as `` one of the greatest visual storytellers in filmmaking '' , he first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of Romancing the Stone ( 1984 ) and the science-fiction comedy Back to the Future film trilogy , as well as the live-action/animated comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit ( 1988 ) . In the 1990s he diversified into more dramatic fare , including 1994 's Forrest Gump , for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director . The film itself won Best Picture . The movies he has directed have ranged across a wide variety of genres , for both adults and families .   Zemeckis ' films are characterized by an interest in state-of-the-art special effects , including the early use of the insertion of computer graphics into live-action footage in Back to the Future Part II ( 1989 ) , and in Forrest Gump and the pioneering performance capture techniques seen in The Polar Express ( 2004 ) , Beowulf ( 2007 ) and A Christmas Carol ( 2009 ) . Though Zemeckis has often been pigeonholed as a director interested only in effects , his work has been defended by several critics , including David Thomson , who wrote that `` No other contemporary director has used special effects to more dramatic and narrative purpose . '' On April 27 , 2017 , Screen Junkies reported Zemeckis was in talks to direct a movie based on The Flash for the DC Extended Universe .

A Christmas Carol (2009 film) <=SEP=> Disney 's A Christmas Carol is a 2009 American 3D computer animated motion-capture fantasy film written and directed by Robert Zemeckis . It is an adaptation of the Charles Dickens story of the same name and stars Jim Carrey in a multitude of roles , including Ebenezer Scrooge as a young , middle-aged , and old man , and the three ghosts who haunt Scrooge . The film also features supporting roles done by Gary Oldman , Colin Firth , Bob Hoskins , Robin Wright Penn , and Cary Elwes .   The film received mixed reviews from American film critics , who praised its visuals and the performances of Carrey and Oldman but criticized its dark tone . It was a decent financial success , earning $ 325.3 million on a $ 175 -- 200 million budget . The 3D film was produced through the process of motion capture , a technique Zemeckis previously used in his films The Polar Express ( 2004 ) , and Beowulf ( 2007 ) . A Christmas Carol began filming in February 2008 and was released on November 3 , 2009 , by Walt Disney Pictures . It received its world premiere in London , coinciding with the switching on of the annual Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights , which in 2009 had a Dickens theme .   The film was released in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D . It is also Disney 's third film retelling of A Christmas Carol following 1983 's Mickey 's Christmas Carol and 1992 's The Muppet Christmas Carol .

Beowulf (2007 film) <=SEP=> Beowulf is a 2007 American 3D motion capture epic fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary , based on the Old English epic poem of the same name . The film was created through a motion capture process similar to the technique Zemeckis used in The Polar Express . The cast includes Ray Winstone , Anthony Hopkins , Robin Wright Penn , Brendan Gleeson , John Malkovich , Crispin Glover , Alison Lohman , and Angelina Jolie . It was released in the United Kingdom and United States on November 16 , 2007 , by Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. . Pictures , and was available to view in IMAX 3D , RealD , Dolby 3D and standard 2D format . The film received positive reviews from critics and it earned $ 196.4 million on a $ 150 million budget .