Jonathan Gems

Jonathan Gems (born 1952, in London) is a British playwright and screenwriter mostly known for his work on Mars Attacks! (1996), directed by Tim Burton.^[1][2] He also wrote the film's novelization. His well known work includes a screenplay for an adaptation of George Orwell’s novel 1984.

The son of the playwright Pam Gems,^[3] Gems wrote a number of plays for theatres on the London fringe before gradually turning to screenwriting.^[4] As well as Mars Attacks!, Gems did uncredited rewrite work on Batman (1989). Gems has written unproduced scripts for Burton, including a Beetlejuice (1988) sequel titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian; an updating of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" set in Burbank, California; The Hawkline Monster, a cowboy/monster movie that was to star Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson; and Go Baby Go, a beach movie in the style of films by Russ Meyer.