Charles Leavitt

Charles Leavitt is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania–born screenwriter known for shaping character-driven studio films and tackling ambitious adaptations. He first drew attention with scripts such as The Sunchaser (1996), The Mighty (1998), and the science-fiction drama K-PAX (2001).

In 2004, Warner Bros. brought Leavitt in to overhaul an early version of Blood Diamond, then titled Okavango, a project that had lingered in development for years. He approached the assignment with deep research into the diamond trade, aiming to depict the industry with frank realism—even if it risked backlash from powerful interests. His draft helped sharpen the film’s direction, and the project later attracted additional writers and ultimately a director who became closely invested in the story.

Leavitt continued working in high-profile development, including a Warner Bros. deal to adapt Doug Stumpf’s novel Confessions of a Wall Street Shoeshine Boy. He also contributed rewrites to projects like The Express, and took on major assignments ranging from In the Heart of the Sea to large-scale fantasy and game adaptations, including Seventh Son (2014) and Warcraft (2016).