Biography
John Robert Leonetti, ASC (born July 4, 1956) is an American cinematographer and film director. He is known for his collaborative work with director James Wan, with whom he has acted as cinematographer on five films. He is the younger brother of cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti, who was the cinematographer for John's first feature-length film as director, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.
Known For
Complete Filmography

Lullaby
2022
Director
A new mother discovers a lullaby in an ancient book and soon regards the song as a blessing. But her world transforms into a nightmare when the lullab...

The Silence
2019
Director
With the world under attack by deadly creatures who hunt by sound, a teen and her family seek refuge outside the city and encounter a mysterious cult.

Wish Upon
2017
Director
A teenage girl discovers a box with magical powers, but those powers comes with a deadly price.

Wolves at the Door
2016
Director
Four friends gather at an elegant home during the Summer of Love, 1969. Unbeknownst to them, deadly visitors are waiting outside. What begins as a sim...

Annabelle
2014
Director
A couple begins to experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll shortly after their home is invaded by satanic cultists.

Insidious: Chapter 2
2013
Director of Photography, Co-Producer
The haunted Lambert family seeks to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.

The Conjuring
2013
Director of Photography
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful ...

This Is 40
2012
Second Unit Director of Photography
Pete and Debbie are both about to turn 40, their kids hate each other, both of their businesses are failing, they're on the verge of losing their hous...

Soul Surfer
2011
Director of Photography
The true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, thro...

Insidious
2011
Director of Photography, Co-Producer
A family discovers that dark spirits have invaded their home after their son inexplicably falls into an endless sleep. When they reach out to a profes...

Super Hybrid
2011
Director of Photography
Late one night, a mysterious car is brought into the Chicago police impound garage after a deadly traffic accident. The on-call mechanics soon discove...

Piranha 3D
2010
Director of Photography
Each year the population of sleepy Lake Victoria, Arizona explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 residents for the annual Spring Break celebration. But then, a...

Ca$h
2010
Director of Photography
A stroke of good luck turns lethal for Sam Phelan and his wife Leslie when they are faced with a life-changing decision that brings strange and sinist...

Death Sentence
2007
Director of Photography
Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by g...

I Know Who Killed Me
2007
Director of Photography
An idyllic small town is rocked when Aubrey Fleming, a bright and promising young woman, is abducted and tortured by a sadistic serial killer. When sh...

Dead Silence
2007
Director of Photography
Jamie returns to his hometown in search of answers to his wife's murder, which occurred after receiving a weird package containing a ventriloquist dum...

The Butterfly Effect 2
2006
Director
After his girlfriend, Julie, and two best friends are killed in a tragic auto accident, Nick struggles to cope with his loss and grief. Suffering from...

The Woods
2006
Director of Photography
In 1965 New England, a troubled girl encounters mysterious happenings in the woods surrounding an isolated girls school that she was sent to by her es...

10th & Wolf
2006
Lighting Technician
A former street thug returns to his Philadelphia home after a stint in the military. Back on his home turf, he once again finds himself tangling with ...

The Perfect Man
2005
Director of Photography
Holly is tired of moving every time her mom Jean breaks up with yet another second-rate guy. To distract her mother from her latest bad choice, Holly ...

Fever Pitch
2005
Second Unit Director of Photography, Second Unit Director
When Ben Wrightman, a young teacher, begins dating pretty businesswoman Lindsey Meeks, the two don't seem to have a lot of the same interests, but the...
Return to Edge City
2005
as Self
A DVD exclusive making-of documentary for Chuck Russell's 1994 action comedy The Mask, consisting of interviews, behind the scenes footage, film clips...

Raise Your Voice
2004
Director of Photography
A coming-of-age story centered around a small-town singer brokenhearted by the death of her brother in a car crash, who had secretly submitted her for...

Honey
2003
Director of Photography
Honey Daniels dreams of making a name for herself as a hip-hop choreographer. When she's not busy hitting downtown clubs with her friends, she teaches...

The Scorpion King
2002
Director of Photography
In ancient Egypt, peasant Mathayus is hired to exact revenge on the powerful Memnon and the sorceress Cassandra, who are ready to overtake Balthazar's...

Joe Dirt
2001
Director of Photography
Joe Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a belligere...

Detroit Rock City
1999
Director of Photography
In 1978, a Kiss concert was an epoch-making event. For the four teen fans in Detroit Rock City getting tickets to the sold-out show becomes the focal ...

Star Trek: Insurrection
1998
Second Unit Director of Photography
When an alien race and factions within Starfleet attempt to take over a planet that has "regenerative" properties, it falls upon Captain Picard and th...

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
1997
Director
A group of heroic warriors has only six days to save the planet in "Mortal Kombat Annihilation." To succeed they must survive the most spectacular ser...

Spy Hard
1996
Director of Photography
The evil Gen. Rancor has his sights set on world domination, and only one man can stop him: Dick Steele, also known as Agent WD-40. Rancor needs to ob...

Mortal Kombat
1995
Director of Photography
For nine generations an evil sorcerer has been victorious in hand-to-hand battle against his mortal enemies. If he wins a tenth Mortal Kombat tourname...

The Burning Season
1994
Director of Photography
Based on the true story of a Brazilian rubber tapper who leads his people in protest against government and developers, who want to cut down their par...

The Mask
1994
Director of Photography
When timid bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss discovers a magical mask containing the spirit of the Norse god Loki, his entire life changes. While wearing the ...

Against the Wall
1994
Director of Photography
In 1971, a warden at Attica Penitentiary is caught up in a hostage crisis when inmates take over the prison to demand better living conditions.

One Woman's Courage
1994
Director of Photography
Because Grace's husband Craig is having an affair she starts drinking. One night Grace witnesses a man attacking a girl; she helps her to the hospital...

Hot Shots! Part Deux
1993
Director of Photography
Topper Harley is found to be working as an odd-job-man in a monastery. The CIA want him to lead a rescue mission into Iraq, to rescue the last rescue ...

Revenge on the Highway
1992
Director of Photography
At his wedding Claude Sams has an argument with his son about his life-style; in anger Paul leaves. Together with a friend he sets out for Vegas to se...

Coopersmith: Sweet Scent of Murder
1992
Director of Photography
Prospective series pilot about a maverick, motorcycling insurance investigator who uses unorthodox methods to smoke out the truth behind every claim t...

Raven: Return of the Black Dragons
1992
Director of Photography
Raven is a ninja, a former member of the Black Dragons clan and also a former Special Forces agent, living in Hawaii, helping those in trouble and sea...

Child's Play 3
1991
Director of Photography
Eight years after seemingly destroying the killer doll, teen Andy Barclay is placed in a military school, and the spirit of Chucky returns to renew hi...

Another 48 Hrs.
1990
Camera Operator
For the past four years, San Francisco cop Jack Cates has been after an unidentified drug kingpin who calls himself the Ice Man. Jack finds a picture ...

Hard to Kill
1990
Camera Operator
Mason Storm, a 'go it alone' cop, is gunned down at home. The intruders kill his wife, and think they've killed both Mason and his son too. Mason is s...

An Eight Is Enough Wedding
1989
Director of Photography
This second made-for-television reunion film finds eldest son David on the brink of marriage to a divorcee. However, some of his sisters would prefer ...

Johnny Handsome
1989
Camera Operator
A career criminal who has been deformed since birth is given a new face by a kindly doctor and paroled from prison. It appears that he has gone straig...

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
1988
Camera Operator
Arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts to claim her inheritance, horror hostess Elvira receives a less than enthusiastic reception from...

Red Heat
1988
Camera Operator
A tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord w...

The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking
1988
Camera Operator
After her father's ship is carried off by a sudden storm, the spunky Pippi Longstocking is stranded with her horse, Alfonso,and her pet monkey, Mr. Ne...

Action Jackson
1988
"B" Camera Operator, Camera Operator
Vengeance drives a tough Detroit cop to stay on the trail of a power hungry auto magnate who's systematically eliminating his competition.

Extreme Prejudice
1987
First Assistant Camera
A Texas Ranger and a ruthless narcotics kingpin - they were childhood friends, now they are adversaries...

Jumpin' Jack Flash
1986
Assistant Camera
Terry works for a bank, and uses computers to communicate with clients all over the world. One day, she gets a strange coded message from an unknown s...

Jagged Edge
1985
Focus Puller
After a wealthy heiress is murdered in her beach house, her devastated husband becomes the prime suspect. He hires a lawyer who hasn’t taken a crimina...

Commando
1985
First Assistant Camera
John Matrix, the former leader of a special commando strike force that always got the toughest jobs done, is forced back into action when his young da...

Weird Science
1985
First Assistant Camera
Two unpopular teenagers, Gary and Wyatt, fail at all attempts to be accepted by their peers. Their desperation to be liked leads them to "create" a wo...

Fast Forward
1985
First Assistant Camera
Eight young people from Ohio who are dancers, come to New York, to compete in a major talent competition. But when they get there, they learn that the...

Songwriter
1984
First Assistant Camera
Doc Jenkins may be one of country music's most beloved stars, but his private life is a wreck. He's split up with his longtime partner, Blackie Buck, ...

The Buddy System
1984
First Assistant Camera
A school truant officer uncovers a young boy's attempt to fake his residential address and subsequently befriends the kid and his mother.

Treasure: In Search of the Golden Horse
1984
Camera Operator
A young woman follows clues across America, searching for a missing statuette of a golden horse. Viewers were invited to solve the film's mystery to f...

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1982
Assistant Camera
Based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe, Fast Times follows a group of high school students growing up in Southern California. S...

Poltergeist
1982
First Assistant Camera
Upon realizing that something truly evil haunts his home, Steve Freeling calls in a team of parapsychologists to help before it's too late.

One from the Heart
1981
Assistant Camera
The five-year romance of a window dresser and her boyfriend breaks up, as each of them finds a more interesting partner.