Trivia

He is the brother of Mark Attanasio, the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Father of actress Annabelle Attanasio.

Paul Attanasio has been one of the most successful and most sought after script doctors in Hollywood since the early 1990's. He has done uncredited script doctor work on Rapid Fire (1992), Speed (1994), Air Force One (1997), Armageddon (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Town & Country (2001), Poseidon (2006), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), among many others. He has also performed rewrites on scripts without credit including writing drafts for Beyond the Sea (2004), Leatherheads (2008), The Wolfman (2010) and the Oscar nominated screenplay for The Fighter (2010).

In the fall of 1998, Paul Attanasio was hired to adapt the yet-to-be-published A. Scott Berg biography "Lindbergh" for Steven Spielberg to produce and direct as his follow-up to Saving Private Ryan (1998). However, by the fall of 1999 it was announced that Attanasio had dropped out of the project without penning a draft. According to reports, Attanasio wrote a treatment that presented Lindbergh as a tortured hero with a complicated marriage and a nasty anti-Semitic streak. Spielberg didn't approve, opting for a more heroic tale of the famed aviator. DreamWorks demanded that Attanasio return his up front fee, something that is practically unheard of in Hollywood. The amount in question was about $500,000. Attanasio gave a chunk of it back and was replaced by screenwriter Menno Meyjes, who had previously worked with Spielberg on The Color Purple (1985) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). The project was eventually shelved after Spielberg decided to pass on it, when Meyjes was unable to deliver a solid script.

Film critic for the Washington Post from 1984 to 1987.

In 1994, Attanasio was adapting the New Yorker Magazine article by Richard Preston titled "Crisis in the Hot Zone" which was going to be produced with Ridley Scott directing and Robert Redford and Jodie Foster starring. However they were beaten by the similar project Outbreak (1995) and this project was canceled. It is uncertain if Attanasio ever completed a draft.

In 1987, Paul Attanasio left The Washington Post as a film critic and made his debut as a screenwriter. He wrote an original script about the mafia, which he says was bad, but the dialogue was pretty good and he managed to sign with an agent at CAA. He then signed development deals with Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and Columbia Pictures in 1988, and was quoted by the LA Times that year stating: "and I'm doing a rewrite for a major star.". It hasn't been disclosed what movie that the rewrite was for, and none of those development deals amounted to any produced scripts. His first paid screenwriting assignment was writing a script about the CIA for Paramount, but that project fell into limbo. Based on the strength of his unproduced mafia script, Attanasio landed the assignment writing the script for Donnie Brasco (1997) which was his second paid script deal in Hollywood.

In the mid-2000s, Attanasio sold an original pitch for a 'Deliverance'-style script titled "Burnt Creek" to Universal Pictures. He wrote several drafts but by 2007, the project went into limbo.

In 2004, Attanasio was hired by Universal Pictures to adapt John Steinbeck's classic novel East of Eden for a remake that Ron Howard was going to direct with Brian Grazer producing. Attanasio wrote several drafts but by 2007, Howard decided to pass on the project. As of 2013, the project was resurrected by Universal and Brian Grazer, with Gary Ross attached to direct and Jennifer Lawrence attached to star. However, it is unknown if they will use Attanasio's draft or hire a new writer.

In 2001, Paul Attanasio signed on to adapt the Vietnam War set non-fiction book "Spite House" by Monika Jensen-Stevenson, for Oliver Stone to produce and direct at Columbia. He was also hired to doctor the screenplay for the adaptation of the Douglas Preston adventure novel "Riptide", but both projects fell into limbo.

In the mid-90s, Paul Attanasio sold a pitch for an original script titled "The Great Unknown" to Paramount Pictures. Attanasio was going to produce it through his production company, Heel & Toe, with his wife and producing partner Katie Jacobs. Attanasio was also attached to make his directorial debut on the project, but after many drafts the project was shelved.

During the mid-90s, Attanasio was hired to write the screenplay adaptation of the Allan Folsom debut novel "The Day After Tomorrow", but the project fell into limbo.

In the fall of 2013, Paul Attanasio was hired to rewrite the script for Hot Wheels, from a draft written by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway. As of 2017, the project is still in development as a potential franchise, with Justin Lin attached to develop and direct.