Reilly wrote his first book, Contest, at the age of 19, and self-published it in 1996.[1] It was rejected by every major publisher in Australia, leading him to self-publish 1,000 copies using a bank loan. He was discovered when Cate Paterson, a commissioning editor from Pan Macmillan, found a self-published copy of Contest in a bookstore.[6] Pan Macmillan signed Reilly to a two-book deal. He wrote his second book, Ice Station, while studying at the University of New South Wales.[11] It was quickly picked up by publishers in the US, UK and Germany. He has since sold over 8 million copies of his books worldwide, in over 20 languages.[12][13][14][15]Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves was the biggest-selling fiction title in Australia in 2011.[16] Three more of Reilly's books have been the biggest-selling Australian titles of their years of release: Seven Ancient Wonders (2005), The Five Greatest Warriors (2009) and The Tournament (2013).[17] A Sydney Morning Herald reviewer praised Reilly's writing for its bold action, but they criticised it for straining credulity and "frequent lapses in logic."[18]
In 2007, Reilly wrote a half-hour television script titled Literary Superstars. The script was picked up by Darren Star (Sex and the City) and bought by Sony Pictures for the ABC Network. Jenna Elfman signed on to play the lead role. The pilot episode was at the casting stage when the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike began, paralyzing Hollywood. The pilot was placed on indefinite hiatus before ultimately being dropped by the ABC.[19]
In 2015, Reilly, in association with Benjamin Maio Mackay's Preachrs Podcast OnLine & OnStage, premiered an audio drama adaptation of Reilly's best-selling novel Ice Station. This was the first adaptation of his works outside of a literary format. Matthew Reilly’s Ice Station Live was performed in the Adelaide Fringe 2016 and piloted the first three episodes of a proposed full audio drama. As of January 2021, no further updates on the project have been announced.[20][21]
In 2017, he began to write a story that could be filmed on a moderate budget of around $15 million. This became the screenplay for Interceptor, whereby a female US Army captain at a US missile interceptor facility has to stop sixteen nuclear missiles aimed at sixteen American cities. The film uses one large set. Reilly collaborated with screenwriter Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean, Collateral) whose efforts included partially rewriting but also introducing Reilly’s work to several producers and other film people in Los Angeles. This led, eventually, to Netflix funding the film with Reilly as first-time director, with filming being done in Sydney in early 2021 featuring Elsa Pataky in the lead role, with Australian Luke Bracey playing the villain; Pataky’s husband, actor Chris Hemsworth, is one of the movie's executive producers. The film was released in mid-2022 on Netflix.[22]
Personal life
In 2004, Reilly married Natalie Freer. Freer attended a nearby high school, Loreto Kirribilli, and also went to the University of New South Wales, where she studied Psychology. Reilly credits Freer with encouraging him to self-publish his first book. In early December 2011, while Reilly was in South Australia on a book tour promoting Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, Natalie, who had suffered from anorexia and depression, died by suicide.[6] Reilly subsequently cancelled his remaining book tours and announced on Facebook his intention to take a break from online communications.[23]
"My life pretty much fell apart; she was my everything. We did everything together; we’d done everything together for the previous 18 years. And suddenly I’d have days where I’d look at the clock and it’d be quarter past one in the afternoon, and I’d think: I’ve got ten hours ‘til I’m going to go to bed. I cried every day for six months. I howled in my car. I’d take the dog for the longest of walks that she’s ever had in her life."
— Reilly on his wife Natalie's suicide.[24]
Reilly owns several movie prop reproductions such as a life-size statue of Han Solo frozen in carbonite from Star Wars, a golden idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and a DeLorean from Back to the Future.[1][6] A big fan of Hollywood blockbusters, Reilly hoped to one day direct a movie adapted from one of his own stories.[25] He would ultimately get to fulfil this mission when he co-wrote and directed Interceptor.
Reilly has been in a relationship with Kate Freeman, and in 2015 he moved with her to Los Angeles, California.[26][22] They married in April 2023.[27]
^Reilly, Matthew (13 October 2012). "January Update (21 January 2012)". MatthewReilly.com. Retrieved 23 October 2012. I have also thrown myself into writing a new book. It's not a Scarecrow novel or a Jack West Jr book. It's got a whole new hero, some of the best scary creatures I've ever written about and it rocks [...] If I get it done by the end of this year, maybe I'll do a double-header and release two books in consecutive years, 2013 and 2014.
