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Rob Letterman

Rob Letterman

Director, writer and producer · Born October 31, 1970 (55) · Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Robert Thomas Letterman (born October 31, 1970) is an American film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut as co-director of the animated comedy film Shark Tale(2004), for which he received a nomination for the Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production. He co-directed the animated science fiction comedy  Monsters vs. Aliens (2009). Letterman has since transitioned into live-action filmmaking, directing the fantasy comedy film Gulliver's Travels (2010), the horror comedy film Goosebumps (2015), and the fantasy mystery film Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019). Letterman was born in Hawaii and attended Mid-Pacific Institute and USC. Before joining DreamWorks Animation, Letterman directed the short film Los Gringos, which was accepted at 2000's Sundance Film Festival. In 2002, Vicky Jenson and Eric "Bibo" Bergeron invited him as a screenwriter (then as co-director) in the making of Shark Tale. In 2010, Letterman directed the live-action film Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black in the lead role. He also directed the live-action/CGI film Pokémon Detective Pikachu, based on the Pokémon videogame franchise. The film was released on May 10, 2019. It grossed $433 million at the box office. It attained the highest percentage of positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for a film adaptation of a video game at the time. In 2020, Netflix announced Letterman as director for an upcoming live-action animated film adaptation of Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil video game. Since then, no further updates have been given for the film since the announcement. Letterman is in a relationship with Beth Pontrelli and has two children, Jack and Eva. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rob Letterman, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
October 31, 1970 (55)
From
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Works as
Director, writer and producer
Titles
9 on MovieCove · 14 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 38 days to Oct 27Down 38% in 30 days

What are Rob Letterman's films like?

Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.

Genres

Animation5 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 54th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Animation movies
Adventure2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 37th percentile
: browse their Adventure 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
Self
41%
Bonds
40%
Morality
8%
Power
4%
Society
4%
Ideas
2%
Self-worth3 titles, browse their movies with this themeFamily bonds3 titles, browse their movies with this themeFriendship2 titles, browse their movies with this themeComing of age2 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity2 titles, browse their movies with this themeDeception2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 7 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 7 · Serious 0 · Dark 0

Heightened: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their heightened movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 0 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 4

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

Gentle 2 · Charged 5 · Intense 0

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

Steady 4 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0

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

Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 5

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

Slow burn 0 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 3

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

Casual 6 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0

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

Resolved 7 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Joyful
7
Thrilling
4
Absurd
2
Warm
1
Manic
1
Other
3

How their films linger

Feel-good6 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteFun6 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 2 with a twist

  • Happy6
  • Bittersweet1

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 Rob Letterman's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 9 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Subscription and free streaming for Rob Letterman'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

14 credits, 9 with a MovieCove page.

  • Goosebumps: The Vanishing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Show 8 episodes · Director · Creator · Executive Producer · Writer

  • Goosebumps(2023)

    Show 10 episodes · Director · Creator · Executive Producer · Writer

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all shows

  • Pokémon: Detective Pikachu(2019)

    Director · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films

  • Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie(2017)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films

  • Goosebumps(2015)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films

  • Gulliver's Travels(2010)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films

  • Monsters vs. Aliens(2009)

    Director · Screenplay · Story · as Secret Service Man #1 / Lieutenant (voice)

    Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films

  • Monsters vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space(2009)

    Writer

    Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films

  • Over the Hedge(2006)

    Thanks

    Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films

  • Club Oscar (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)

    Director

  • Shark Tale(2004)

    Director · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films

  • The Silver Surfer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)

    Visual Effects Director

  • Dropz (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

  • The Magic School Bus (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Writer

Career shape

A full career of 13 titles, 11 of them dated from 1993 to 2025.

Biggest box office

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

$451M worldwide

Highest rated

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

Midcredits 66th

Most popular right now

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

Film career

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting1 of 13: 0 only acting, 1 with another roleDirecting10 of 13: 4 only directing, 6 with another role · typical Midcredits score48thWriting6 of 13: 0 only writing, 6 with another roleProducing3 of 13: 1 only producing, 2 with another roleOther crew4 of 13: 2 only other crew, 2 with another role

13 titles, 6 with more than one role — directing and writing overlap on 6 of them.

By decade

1990s1 · crew2000s4 · 1 acting · 4 crew2010s4 · crew2020s2 · 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.

How do Rob Letterman's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 55th percentile, the median of all 8; across their 7 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 54th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

54thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 7

Approval · how many liked their films

51stpercentile
Typical film, the median of 7

Reach · how many have seen their films

98thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 7

Midcredits score across 9 titles, by percentile

  • 50th to 74th6
  • 25th to 49th2
  • Below 25th1

Shape of the crowd

6 of their 9 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Crowd Pleaser6
  • Broadly Agreed2
  • Mixed1

Most divisive · director, writer, producer

Goosebumps (2023)

50th percentile spread · 14% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · director, writer

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

Midcredits 66th · 59% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 60/100 and the pacing 55/100 in their films, across 7 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

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 Rob Letterman's work okay for kids?

Across up to 6 MovieCove titles with content scores, profanity and alcohol & drugs run lighter than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore6 titles28–41 · median 38 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity6 titles16–30 · median 23 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity6 titles17–30 · median 25 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs6 titles7–26 · median 13 · minimallighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense6 titles27–47 · median 35 · mildnear the median of all 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 Rob Letterman work with?

People who share at least 2 of Rob Letterman's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Henry Jackman shares the most, 4.

Writers

Actors

Composers

Producers