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Steve Kloves

Steve Kloves

Writer, producer and director · Born March 18, 1960 (66) · Austin, Texas, USA

Oscar nominee · Golden Globe nominee · BAFTA Award nominee · 2 other major award bodies

Stephen Keith Kloves (born March 18, 1960) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He wrote and directed the film The Fabulous Baker Boys and is mainly known for his screenplay adaptations of novels, especially for all but one of the Harry Potter films (the exception being The Order of the Phoenix) and for Wonder Boys, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Kloves, born in Austin, Texas, grew up in Sunnyvale, California, where he graduated from Fremont High School. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, but dropped out when he was not admitted into the film school in his third year. As an unpaid intern for a Hollywood agent, he gained attention for a screenplay he wrote called Swings. This led to a meeting where he successfully pitched Racing with the Moon (1984). His first experience with professional screenwriting left him wanting more interaction with the actors so that the characters would stay true to his vision. Kloves wrote The Fabulous Baker Boys and also intended it to be his directorial debut. After years of trying to sell the project in Hollywood, the film finally got off the ground and was released in 1989. The Fabulous Baker Boys did reasonably well and was critically acclaimed, but his next shot as writer/director for Flesh and Bone in 1993 fared poorly at the box office. Kloves then stopped writing for three years. Realising that he had to return to writing to support his family, he began adapting Michael Chabon's novel Wonder Boys into a screenplay. Kloves was offered the chance to direct, but he declined, preferring to direct only his own original work. This was his first try at adapting another work to film. His screenplay was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award after the film's release in 2000. Warner Bros. sent Kloves a list of novels that the company was considering adapting as films. The listing included the first Harry Potter novel, which intrigued him despite his usual indifference to these catalogs. He went on to write the screenplays for the first four films in the series. However, he turned down writing the fifth film, stating that "The fourth film, Goblet of Fire, was really hard to do. I wrote on it for two years. But it’s not that simple, and I don't know that I'll ever fully understand why I didn't do it." After Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay for the fifth film, Kloves then returned to write the sixth, seventh, and eighth installments. In 2011, Kloves was attached to work on a film adaptation of Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Since 2016, Kloves produced the Fantastic Beasts films, a spinoff prequel series to the main Harry Potter series. Kloves co-wrote the third installment with J.K. Rowling. Kloves produced the Andy Serkis-directed movie, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. His daughter, Callie, wrote the screenplay. Kloves is now set to write the screenplay for the film adaptation of T. J. Newman's novel Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 for Warner Bros. Description above from the Wikipedia article Steve Kloves, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
March 18, 1960 (66)
From
Austin, Texas, USA
Works as
Writer, producer and director
Titles
17 on MovieCove · 20 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 155 days to Oct 26Down 9% in 30 days

What are Steve Kloves' films like?

Across their 16 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.

Genres

Adventure11 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 96th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Adventure movies
Comedy3 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 79th percentile
: browse their Comedy movies

Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.

Themes

share of theme weight
Bonds
30%
Self
29%
Morality
21%
Power
10%
Society
6%
Survival
3%
Ideas
1%
Friendship7 titles, browse their movies with this themeSacrifice3 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity3 titles, browse their movies with this themePurpose2 titles, browse their movies with this themeFamily bonds2 titles, browse their movies with this themeSelf-worth2 titles, browse their movies with this themeGuilt2 titles, browse their movies with this themeFreedom2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 16 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

A split, not a type: Grounded 3 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 9

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 1 · Charged 11 · Intense 4

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 3 · Shifting 10 · Whiplash 3

Some laughs: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their some laughs movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 12 · Funny 0

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 10 · Relentless 2

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 3 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 5

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 11 · Open-ended 5 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
12
Melancholic
7
Bittersweet
5
Warm
4
Romantic
4
Other
15

How their films linger

Bittersweet12 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful11 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteFeel-good3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteWistful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 6 with a twist

  • Happy3
  • Bittersweet12
  • Ambiguous1

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Steve Kloves' films?

As of October 24, 2026, 14 of their 17 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Subscription and free streaming for Steve Kloves' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

20 credits, 17 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.

Career shape

A full career of 20 titles, 18 of them dated from 1984 to 2022.

Biggest box office

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

$1.3B worldwide

Highest rated

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Midcredits 99th

Most popular right now

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting1 of 20: 1 only acting, 0 with another roleDirecting3 of 20: 0 only directing, 3 with another roleWriting15 of 20: 11 only writing, 4 with another role · typical Midcredits score94thProducing4 of 20: 3 only producing, 1 with another roleOther crew1 of 20: 1 only other crew, 0 with another role

20 titles, 4 with more than one role — writing and producing overlap on 1 of them.

By decade

1980s2 · crew1990s1 · crew2000s8 · 1 acting · 7 crew2010s6 · crew2020s1 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

Awards

1 major award from 9 major nominations, 1990–2017.

WinNomination
  1. 2017
    • BAFTA Award, nominated · Outstanding British Film of the Year
  2. 2003
    • BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Feature Film
  3. 2002
    • BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Feature Film
  4. 2001
    • Oscar, nominated · Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
    • Golden Globe, nominated · Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
    • BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Screenplay - Adapted
    • +2 other major bodies · 1 win and 1 nomination
      • Writers Guild Award, nominated · Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
      • Critics Choice Award, won · Best Screenplay, Adapted
  5. 1990
    • Writers Guild Award, nominated · Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Steve Kloves' films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 87th percentile, the median of all 17; across their 16 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 83rd percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

83rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 16

Approval · how many liked their films

87thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 16

Reach · how many have seen their films

91stpercentile
Typical film, the median of 16

Midcredits score across 17 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up12
  • 50th to 74th4
  • 25th to 49th1

Shape of the crowd

None of their 17 titles divides audiences: 8 are Universally Loved.

  • Universally Loved8
  • Crowd Pleaser7
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed1

Most loved · writer

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Midcredits 99th · 89% liked

Reviewers score the dialogue 58/100 and the plot and story 47/100 in their films, across 16 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Is Steve Kloves' work okay for kids?

Across up to 16 MovieCove titles with content scores, frightening / intense runs heavier than most films and sex & nudity and profanity lighter.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore14 titles32–63 · median 52 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity16 titles5–37 · median 19 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity16 titles15–54 · median 25 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs15 titles7–54 · median 25 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense14 titles38–70 · median 57 · moderateheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 39

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.

Who does Steve Kloves work with?

People who share at least 2 of Steve Kloves' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; David Heyman shares the most, 10.

Directors

Writers

Actors

  • Alan Rickman7 titles    See all 7 shared titles with Alan Rickman
  • Daniel Radcliffe7 titles    See all 7 shared titles with Daniel Radcliffe
  • Emma Watson7 titles    See all 7 shared titles with Emma Watson
  • Rupert Grint7 titles    See all 7 shared titles with Rupert Grint

Composers, cinematographers and editors

Producers