Films based on biographies

2001 film by Ron Howard

Oppenheimer is a 2023 epic biographical thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. It follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film dramatizes Oppenheimer's studies, his direction of the Los Alamos Laboratory and his 1954 security hearing. Cillian Murphy stars as Oppenheimer, alongside Robert Downey Jr. as the United States Atomic Energy Commission member Lewis Strauss. The ensemble supporting cast includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.

1962 film directed by David Lean

2002 film directed by Roman Polanski

Goodfellas (stylized as GoodFellas) is a 1990 American biographical crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of Pileggi's 1985 nonfiction book Wiseguy. Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino, the film narrates the rise and fall of Mafia associate Henry Hill and his friends and family from 1955 to 1980.

The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical drama film produced and directed by Robert Wise from a screenplay written by Ernest Lehman. It is based on the 1959 stage musical composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Lindsay and Crouse, itself based on the 1949 memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. The film stars Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, with Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Charmian Carr, and Eleanor Parker. Set in Salzburg, Austria, it is a fictional retelling of Maria von Trapp's experiences as governess to seven children, her eventual marriage with their father Captain Georg von Trapp, and their escape during the Anschluss in 1938.

2004 film directed by Martin Scorsese

2014 film directed by Morten Tyldum

2004 film by Oliver Hirschbiegel

2006 film by Gabriele Muccino

2011 American film directed by Bennett Miller

2019 film directed by Martin Scorsese

1937 film by William Dieterle

2016 film directed by Theodore Melfi

2002 film directed by Julie Taymor

1989 film directed by Jim Sheridan

2004 film by Walter Salles

2018 film directed by Damien Chazelle

BlacKkKlansman is a 2018 American biographical crime film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, loosely based on the 2014 memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth. The film stars John David Washington as Stallworth, along with Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, and Topher Grace. It also features Harry Belafonte's last performance before his death in April 2023. Set in the 1970s in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it follows the first African-American detective in the city's police department as he sets out to infiltrate and expose the local Ku Klux

2015 film directed by Danny Boyle

2009 film by Nora Ephron

Serpico is a 1973 American crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino in the title role. The screenplay was adapted by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler from the book written by Peter Maas, with the assistance of its subject Frank Serpico. The story details Serpico's struggle with corruption within the New York City Police Department during his eleven years of service, and his work as a whistleblower which led to the investigation by the Knapp Commission.

1993 film by Michael Caton-Jones

2006 film directed by Sofia Coppola

2011 film directed by Cameron Crowe

1992 film by Richard Attenborough

2007 film by Stefan Ruzowitzky

2007 film directed by Julian Schnabel

1946 American western film directed by John Ford

2016 film directed by Oliver Stone

2002 film directed by George Clooney

2009 television film directed by Russell Mulcahy

2013 film directed by Lee Daniels

2014 film directed by Angelina Jolie

1999 film by Joe Johnston

2017 film directed by Aaron Sorkin

2008 film directed by Saul Dibb

1999 film directed by Norman Jewison

2001 film directed by Richard Eyre

2003 film directed by Gregor Jordan

2001 film directed by Ted Demme

1959 film directed by George Stevens

2001 film directed by Penny Marshall

2019 film directed by Joe Berlinger

2018 film by Josie Rourke

2015 film by Matt Brown

2009 film by Anne Fontaine

1997 British biographical film directed by Brian Gilbert

1935 film by Henry Hathaway

2009 film directed by Sherry Hormann

2000 film directed by Ed Harris

2006 film by Douglas McGrath

2007 film by Bille August

1962 film by John Frankenheimer

1976 film by Hal Ashby

2023 film directed by Michael Mann

1980 film by Michael Apted

2007 film directed by Michael Winterbottom

1938 American film

1936 film by William Dieterle