Patrick Melton (born June 18, 1975) is an American screenwriter, producer and novelist, best known for his work on the Feast film series, The Collector and the Saw franchise.
He was one of the screenwriters of Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI and Saw 3D.
Early Life
Patrick Melton was born in Champaign, Illinois, but grew up mostly in Evanston, Illinois. He attended Evanston Township High School and graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies. He also attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he received a MFA in screenwriting. He is the writing partner of college friend Marcus Dunstan.
Career
In 2004, Melton won the third season of Project Greenlight, along with Dunstan and John Gulager. The TV show premiered on Bravo and resulted in the horror/comedy film Feast. Based on its success, two sequels followed, Feast 2: Sloppy Seconds and Feast III: The Happy Finish. However, it was Melton's involvement with the successful Saw franchise, that brought him worldwide recognition and international box office success. He wrote the scripts for Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI and Saw 3D for a worldwide take of nearly $500,000,000. Additionally, Melton wrote the home invasion thriller The Collector, which was directed by his longtime writing partner, Marcus Dunstan.
Melton and Dunstan also adapted the acclaimed graphic novel Smoke and Guns by Kirsten Baldock and Fabio Moon. In the fall of 2006, Dimension Films preemptively acquired a dark and edgy horror thriller spec script from Melton and Dunstan titled The Neighbor.
Additionally, the writing team of Melton and Dunstan has performed writing duties on Lionsgate Film's My Bloody Valentine 3D, Piranha 3D by Alexandre Aja, a remake of Clive Barker's Hellraiser, a remake of William Castle's classic horror film The Tingler at Columbia Pictures for producer Neal Moritz, a remake of Scanners by David Cronenberg, a film adaptation of the classic sci-fi TV anthology The Outer Limits for MGM, and the action adventure tentpole Pacific Rim by Guillermo Del Toro for Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.
On February 8, 2010, Melton told the film website Latino Review that Saw 3D is most likely the last entry in the Saw franchise. The sequel to Melton and Dunstan's horror film The Collector, named The Collection and again directed by Dunstan, started filming in Atlanta, GA during the spring of 2011. It was theatrically released in 2012.
On October 5, 2011, Melton's debut novel, Black Light, co-written with Marcus Dunstan and Stephen Romano, was released by Mulholland Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, and in the UK by Mulholland Books, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. It was later adapted into a film for producer Michael De Luca.
In June 2013, Melton sold a sci-fi pitch titled Outliers to 20th Century Fox along with his writing partner Marcus Dunstan. David Karlak was attached to direct and Peter Chernin, producer of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, was attached to produce. In 2015 Melton and Dunstan wrote the screenplay to the eleventh film in the pupular Halloween franchise, which was original planned to be released in 2015 under the direction of Patrick Lussier. In October 2016, Melton, along with partner Dunsten, were selected to write for the adaptation of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Feast | Yes | No |
| 2007 | Saw IV | Yes | No |
| 2008 | Feast II: Sloppy Seconds | Yes | No |
| Saw V | Yes | No | |
| 2009 | Feast III: The Happy Finish | Yes | No |
| The Collector | Yes | No | |
| Saw VI | Yes | No | |
| 2010 | Saw 3D | Yes | No |
| The Candidate | Yes | No | |
| 2012 | Piranha 3DD | Yes | No |
| The Collection | Yes | No | |
| 2016 | Rise | Yes | No |
| The Neighbor | Yes | Executive | |
| 2017 | Naked Fury | Yes | No |
