Steven Caple Jr. is on fire as one of Hollywood's hottest filmmakers
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Steven Caple Jr. attends a special screening of Netflix's "Man on Fire" in Los Angeles on April 21. Photo: Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images for Netflix
The past decade for filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. has been a whirlwind of action-packed fights, alien robots and tales of vengeance.
Why it matters: Caple, a native Clevelander, has become one of Hollywood's hottest directors, with several buzzworthy projects on the horizon.
Driving the news: His latest work is "Man on Fire," Netflix's series based on the same 1980 novel previously adapted into the 2004 film starring Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning.
- Caple serves as an executive producer and directs the first two episodes of the series, which debuts Thursday.
State of play: "Man on Fire" stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II ("The Matrix Resurrections," "Candyman") as John Creasy, a physically and emotionally damaged ex-mercenary out for revenge.
What they're saying: "I read [the script] and after the first five pages, I was like, where do you go from here with a man who tried to take his own life?" Caple says of the story.
- "How do you come back from that? That was the reason I said yes to this project, to be able to explore that."
Flashback: Caple grew up in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood before attending Baldwin Wallace University and then USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles.
- He released his first feature film, "The Land," which was shot entirely in Cleveland, in 2016.
- He then directed the blockbuster films "Creed II" in 2018 and "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" in 2023.
The big picture: Caple now lives in L.A. and launched his own production company Grey Skies. Its first project will be a film adaptation of the Dark Horse comic book series "Ghost Fleet."
- He's been attached to other high-profile projects, including the horror-thriller "Grand Rising," starring Lena Waithe, and the sequel to Will Smith's "I Am Legend."
Zoom in: Caple hasn't forgotten about Cleveland. The 38-year-old says he's considering attending his 20th reunion at John Marshall High School this summer.
- "I haven't been home in a long time," Caple says. "But ultimately as a filmmaker, I would love to go home and shoot something."