James Allen Mangold (born December 16, 1963) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Noted for his versatility in tackling a range of genres, Mangold made his debut as a film director with Heavy (1995), and gained recognition for the films Cop Land (1997), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Identity (2003), Walk the Line (2005), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Knight and Day (2010), and two films in the X-Men franchise with The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017), the latter of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

He then directed the sports drama film Ford v Ferrari (2019), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and directed and co-wrote Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), the fifth and final installment in the Indiana Jones series. For the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (2024), Mangold was once again nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, in addition to his first nomination for Best Director.

Mangold was born in New York City in 1963, and is the son of artists Robert Mangold and Sylvia Plimack Mangold. He was raised in Washingtonville, New York in the Hudson Valley and graduated from Washingtonville High School. His mother is Jewish, and he describes himself as "half-Jewish."

He attended the California Institute of the Arts film/video program where he studied under Alexander Mackendrick. During Mangold's third year, Mackendrick suggested that he should study at CalArts School of Theater as an actor, alongside his regular film studies. While at CalArts, he directed the promotional documentary Future View for Disney and General Motors.

In 1985, Mangold secured a writer/director deal at The Walt Disney Company. He wrote a television movie and co-wrote the animated feature Oliver & Company. A few years later, Mangold moved to New York and applied to Columbia University's film school, where he graduated with an MFA in film. While there, he studied under film director Miloš Forman who helped him develop the scripts for Heavy and Cop Land. He has worked as a feature writer and director since 1995, when his first feature, the independent film Heavy, won the best directing prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Mangold subsequently wrote and directed Cop Land (1997), starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta; Girl, Interrupted, which won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1999 for Angelina Jolie; Kate & Leopold, starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, for which Jackman was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor in a musical or comedy in 2001, and the 2003 thriller Identity which starred John Cusack.

In 2005, Mangold co-wrote (with Gill Dennis), produced (under his production banner, Tree Line Film), and directed Walk the Line, a film about the young life of singer-songwriter Johnny Cash and his relationship with June Carter Cash. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, it was released on November 18, 2005, to positive reviews and grossed $187 million worldwide. It was nominated for five Oscars and Witherspoon won Best Actress for her performance as June Carter Cash. Mangold also appeared as an actor in The Sweetest Thing as a doctor and love interest to Christina Applegate as well as in his own Kate & Leopold playing a movie director.

In 2007, Mangold directed the Western 3:10 to Yuma, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale; it received positive reviews and grossed around $71 million worldwide.