Cimino, Michael (1943– )

US film director and screenwriter. He met critical and commercial success with The Deer Hunter (1978), a study of the effects of the Vietnam War on a Russian-American community in an Ohio steel town. The success of the film, which won five Academy Awards, effectively earned him a contract with United Artists to film the epic western Heaven's Gate (1980), which lost its backers some US$40 million and became a byword for commercial disaster in the industry.

Following screenwriting credits on Silent Running (1971) and Magnum Force (1973), Cimino was invited by Clint Eastwood to write and direct Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). Since Heaven's Gate, Cimino has made a handful of films, including The Year of the Dragon (1986; scripted by Oliver Stone), the disappointing The Sicilian (1987), Desperate Hours (1990), and The Sunchaser (1996).