In 2002, he directed his debut feature
Darkness Falls at the age of 26. Although the film suffered from generally weak reviews, it opened at no. 1 at the US
box office. The film grossed over $32.5 million at the US box office, and a further $15 million worldwide. The film was nominated for Best Horror/Thriller at the
Teen Choice Awards in 2003, while the film's star,
Emma Caulfield, won Face of the Future from the
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films that year. Liebesman's next project,
Rings (2005) (which he co-wrote with
Ehren Kruger), was a 17-minute short that chronologically follows the events of the full-length feature,
The Ring, and serves as a prequel to
The Ring Two (2005). It provided an insightful transition between the two films and garnered high praise from fans of both feature-length films. The film's success brought him to the attention of
Michael Bay and his production company,
Platinum Dunes, who hired him to direct
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel titled
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning opened in US theaters on 6 October 2006, and proved another box office hit for Liebesman. The $16 million movie opened at No 2 at the US box office with $18.5 million. As of 31 December 2006, the film had grossed around $50 million worldwide, including over $39.5 million in the US. In 2007, it was initially announced that Liebesman would be the director of the
Friday the 13th reboot but as of November 2007,
Marcus Nispel, director of
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake of 2003, replaced Liebesman. In 2008, Liebesman completed directing his third full-length feature film,
The Killing Room, a political thriller starring
Chloë Sevigny,
Nick Cannon,
Timothy Hutton and
Peter Stormare, about four people in a psychological study who discover they are subjects in a brutal and classified government program. The film debuted in the non-competition program at the
Sundance Festival in January 2009. In November 2008,
Columbia Pictures announced that Liebesman would direct the
science fiction film Battle: Los Angeles. The $70 million film – based on the story written by Chris Bertolini – revolved around a marine platoon's encounter in a battle against an alien invasion on the streets of Los Angeles. The film opened at no. 1 at the US box office on 11 March 2011, and earned over $80 million at the US box office, and over $200 million globally. In early 2009, it was announced that Liebesman was attached to direct a new
Warner Bros. film titled
Odysseus, an epic based on
Homer's
Odyssey. In June 2010, Liebesman was named as the director of the sequel to
Clash of the Titans, titled
Wrath of the Titans, starring
Sam Worthington,
Ralph Fiennes, and
Liam Neeson.
Principal photography began on 23 March 2011, with filming taking place in summer 2011 in studios outside
London and on location in
Surrey, South Wales and in the
Canary Islands on the island of
Tenerife. The film was released on 30 March 2012. Like its predecessor, the film was lambasted by critics and plans for a sequel,
Revenge of the Titans never got off the ground. In July 2011, it was announced that Warner Bros. and Liebesman would be collaborating on an upcoming
biopic about
Julius Caesar. In February 2012, Liebesman was brought in to direct the reboot of the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film series,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, beating
Brett Ratner among others. Filming began in March 2013 in
Tupper Lake,
New York. Production for the film wrapped on 3 August 2013, and the movie was released in August 2014. The movie was a box office success, but received negative reviews from critics and the TMNT fan base alike. The film was nominated for five
Golden Raspberry Awards in
2015 including
Worst Director, while the film's star,
Megan Fox, won
Worst Supporting Actress. In April 2019, Liebesman oversaw reshoots for
Dolittle (2020) alongside writer
Chris McKay and the film's director
Stephen Gaghan; the reshoots moved the film's release from April 2019 to January 2020. In 2022 he directed the season 1 finale of the action series
Halo. ==Filmography==