Baltasar Kormákur is a multifaceted artist, whose career spans theater, film, and television. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, he graduated from the Iceland's National Academy of Fine Arts in 1990.
He was immediately signed by the National Theatre of Iceland, where he worked as one of the leading young performing artists until 1997. During his time with the National Theatre, he also directed several ambitious works, after having produced and directed highly popular, independent stage productions alongside his projects with the theatre.
In 2000, he wrote, directed, acted in, and produced the feature film "101 Reykjavik," which became an international hit and earned the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. This success led Variety to select him as one of the "10 Directors to Watch," alongside other newcomers at the time.
Soon after, Kormákur started Blueeyes Productions and has since focused on feature film writing, producing, and directing. His films, including "The Sea," "A Little Trip To Heaven," "Jar City," and "White Night Wedding," have been very successful in Iceland and have won numerous international awards.
Kormákur's "The Deep," which tells the tragic real-life story of the lone survivor of a capsized fishing boat off the Icelandic coast, premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to become Iceland's Oscar nominee and was shortlisted for the foreign language Academy Award.
He has also directed features in the United States, including "Inhale" and "Contraband." "Contraband" took first place at the US box office during its opening weekend in early January 2012.
Kormákur's next film was the thriller "2 Guns," starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, which Universal Pictures will release in August 2013. He is also working on several other projects, including the HBO pilot "The Missionary," the cautionary tale "Everest," and the big-budget action adventure "Viking."
