Alex Kurtzman

Alex Kurtzman’s career? Man, it’s all over the place—in a good way (well, mostly). The guy’s Hollywood resume reads like a summer blockbuster marathon. He’s the dude who wrangled together the first two Transformers scripts, so, yeah, you can thank him (or blame him) for all those giant robot throwdowns that made your popcorn fly. Then there’s The Island—kind of underrated, actually, but let’s not get sidetracked. Kurtzman also got his fingerprints all over Star Trek (the 2009 reboot, not the ‘60s camp), so if you dig Chris Pine in space, you know who to nod at. But, not everything he touches turns to gold. People Like Us, his directorial debut, was heartfelt but didn’t exactly burn up the box office. Then there’s the infamous 2017 reboot of The Mummy—yeah, the one with Tom Cruise sprinting from ancient curses and Sofia Boutella all wrapped up as the villain. Critics had a field day with that: call it a stumble, a misfire, whatever, but honestly, it’s almost fun in a “so-bad-it’s-good” way (depending on your tolerance for CGI sandstorms). And let’s not forget TV—Kurtzman co-created Fringe, which is basically the X-Files for people who like their weirdness turned up to eleven. Think parallel universes, mad science, and more plot twists than a bag of pretzels. So, love him or roast him, Kurtzman’s left a big, messy, sci-fi-fueled boot print on Hollywood. Not boring, that’s for sure.