Michael Patrick Dougherty is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and comic book creator. He began his career working alongside Dan Harris on the screenplays for Bryan Singer's superhero filmsX2 and Superman Returns. Dougherty went on to direct, write, and produce the cult horror anthology film Trick 'r Treat, the Christmas horror comedy filmKrampus, and the action monster film .
Dougherty made his directorial and writing debut with the short film Season's Greetings, which was released in 1996. Dougherty went on to co-write several screenplays, including Bryan Singer's superhero sequel filmX2, which was released in 2003. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2005 supernatural horror film'. Dougherty re-teamed with Singer, co-writing the story and screenplay for the superhero film Superman Returns, which was released in 2006. Dougherty made his feature length directorial debut with the cult horror anthology film Trick 'r Treat. The film was based on his own script, and was produced by Singer. It played at several film festivals, before being released on DVD on October 6, 2009 in the US and Canada. It received acclaim and went on to gain a cult following in subsequent years. The short film Season's Greetings, which was the precursor to Trick 'r Treat, was released as a DVD extra and was aired on FEARnet in October 2013 as part of a 24-hour Trick 'r Treat marathon on Halloween. In December 2014, he began work on the Christmas horror filmKrampus, which was released to moderate critical and commercial success in December 2015. He also co-wrote the story for the film ', with Singer, Dan Harris and Simon Kinberg, with Singer once again as director. Dougherty directed the science fiction sequel , for which he wrote the script with Zach Shields, from a story by himself, Shields, and Max Borenstein. The film was released in 2019, to mixed reviews and grossed $386 million worldwide. In April 2020, HBO was announced to be developing a Hellraiser television series that would serve as "an elevated continuation and expansion" of its mythology, with Mark Verheiden and Dougherty writing and David Gordon Green directing several episodes. The three will executive produce with Danny McBride, Jody Hill, Brandon James and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment.
Filmography
Comic books
Bryan Singer, Dougherty and Dan Harris provided the plots to four comic book prequels to Superman Returns. The four forty-page comic book prequels were published by DC Comics throughout the month of June 2006 and bridged the gap between the second Superman film and Superman Returns.
Superman Returns: Krypton to Earth – Story by Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty, and Dan Harris
Superman Returns: Ma Kent – Story by Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty, and Dan Harris
Superman Returns: Lex Luthor – Story by Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty, and Dan Harris
Superman Returns: Lois Lane – Story by Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty, and Dan Harris
In 2015, with Todd Casey, Zach Shields and Marc Andeyko, Dougherty co-wrote and created a comic book tie in to Trick 'r Treat, titled Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead. It featured four new short stories, spanning centuries, depicting a variety of characters and cultures, going back to the holiday's roots in ancient Ireland. Later that year, with Casey, Zach and Laura Shields, Dougherty published a tie-in to Krampus, titled Krampus: Shadows of Saint Nicholas. It features three stories which expand the mythology of the Krampus.
