Anthony McCarten (born 28 April 1961) is a New Zealand writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing big-budget biopics The Theory of Everything (2014), Darkest Hour (2017), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), The Two Popes (2019), and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022). McCarten has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including twice for Best Adapted Screenplay, for The Theory of Everything and The Two Popes. Description above from the Wikipedia article Anthony McCarten, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- April 28, 1961 (65)
- New Plymouth, New Zealand
- Writer and producer
- 7 on MovieCove · 19 credits in all
What are Anthony McCarten's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Society.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 6
A split, not a type: Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 3
Grounded 2 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 1
Gentle 0 · Charged 4 · Intense 2
Steady 2 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 0
A split, not a type: Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 3
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet3
- Tragic1
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 Anthony McCarten's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Anthony McCarten's 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
19 credits, 7 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
The Two Popes(2019)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Bohemian Rhapsody(2018)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Men Ready for Anything (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Darkest Hour(2017)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
The Theory of Everything(2014)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Death of a Superhero(2011)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Show of Hands (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
The English Harem (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Via Satellite (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
The Model (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)
Worzel Gummidge Down Under (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Nineteen Steps (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Shih, Queen of the Sea (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Collaboration (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Price of Peace (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Two Wolves (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled John Lennon/Yoko Ono Project (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 19 titles, 13 of them dated from 1987 to 2022.
Biggest box office
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Highest rated
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Most popular right now
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
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.
How do Anthony McCarten's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 93rd percentile, the median of all 7; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 90th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th2
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 7 titles are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved3
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the dialogue 62/100 and the plot and story 53/100 in their films, across 6 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 Anthony McCarten's work okay for kids?
Across up to 5 MovieCove titles with content scores, alcohol & drugs runs heavier than most films and violence & gore lighter.
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 Anthony McCarten work with?
People who share at least 2 of Anthony McCarten's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Denis O'Sullivan shares the most, 2.
Producers
- Denis O'SullivanShared titles: Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Denis O'Sullivan
- Eric FellnerShared titles: Darkest Hour (2017), The Theory of Everything (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Eric Fellner
- Lisa BruceShared titles: Darkest Hour (2017), The Theory of Everything (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Lisa Bruce
- Tim BevanShared titles: Darkest Hour (2017), The Theory of Everything (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Tim Bevan
