Current:Home > ContactJon Landau, Oscar-winning ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’ producer, dies at 63-LoTradeCoin
Jon Landau, Oscar-winning ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’ producer, dies at 63
lotradecoin fees View Date:2024-12-25 12:33:34
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jon Landau, an Oscar-winning producer who worked closely with director James Cameron on “Titanic” and the “Avatar” series, has died. He was 63.
Alan Bergman, Disney Entertainment co-chairman, announced Landau’s death in a statement Saturday. No cause of death was given.
“Jon was a visionary whose extraordinary talent and passion brought some of the most unforgettable stories to life on the big screen. His remarkable contributions to the film industry have left an indelible mark, and he will be profoundly missed. He was an iconic and successful producer yet an even better person and a true force of nature who inspired all around him,” Bergman said.
Landau’s partnership with Cameron led to three Oscar nominations and a best picture win for 1997’s “Titanic.” Together the pair account for some of the biggest blockbusters in movie history, including “Avatar” and its sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
Landau’s career began in the 1980s as a production manager, and he gradually rose through the ranks until taking on a producer role on “Titanic,” Cameron’s expensive epic about the infamous disaster. The bet paid off: “Titanic” became the first movie to cross $1 billion in global box-office earnings and went on to win 11 Oscars, including best picture.
“I can’t act and I can’t compose and I can’t do visual effects. I guess that’s why I’m producing.” Landau said while accepting the award with Cameron.
Their partnership continued, with Landau becoming a top executive at Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment. In 2009 the pair watched as “Avatar,” a sci-fi epic filmed and shown in theaters with groundbreaking 3D technology, surpassed the box-office success of “Titanic.” It remains the top-grossing film of all time.
Its sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” is third on the list.
Landau has been a key player in the “Avatar” franchise, which saw frequent delays of the release of “The Way of Water.” Landau defended the sequel’s progress and Cameron’s ambitious plans to film multiple sequels at once to keep the franchise going.
“A lot has changed but a lot hasn’t,” Landau told The Associated Press in 2022, a few months ahead of the sequel’s release. “One of the things that has not changed is: Why do people turn to entertainment today? Just like they did when the first ‘Avatar’ was released, they do it to escape, to escape the world in which we live.”
Landau was named an executive vice president of feature movies at 20th Century Fox when he was 29, which led him to oversee major hits including “Home Alone” and its sequel, as well as “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “True Lies,” where he first started working closely with Cameron.
Born in New York on July 23, 1960, Landau was the son of film producers Ely and Edie Landau.
Ely Landau died in 1993. Edie Landau, the Oscar-nominated producer of films like “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” “Hopscotch” and “The Deadly Game,” died in 2022.
Jon Landau is survived by his wife of nearly 40 years, Julie, and their sons, Jamie and Jodie.
veryGood! (2311)
Related
- Chiquis comes from Latin pop royalty. How the regional Mexican star found her own crown
- 5 injured in shooting outside a Detroit blues club over a parking spot dispute, police say
- 2nd man pleads not guilty to Massachusetts shooting deaths of woman and her 11-year-old daughter
- DA suggests Donald Trump violated gag order with post about daughter of hush-money trial judge
- East Coast storm makes a mess at ski resorts as strong winds cause power outages
- Well-known politician shot dead while fleeing masked gunmen, Bahamas police say
- Self-Care Essentials to Help You Recover & Get Back on Track After Spring Break
- Melissa Joan Hart expresses solidarity with Nickelodeon child stars in 'Quiet on Set' docuseries
- China says Philippines has 'provoked trouble' in South China Sea with US backing
- How Travis Kelce Continues to Proves He’s Taylor Swift’s No. 1 Fan
Ranking
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Volunteers uncover fate of thousands of Lost Alaskans sent to Oregon mental hospital a century ago
- When it needed it the most, the ACC is thriving in March Madness with three Elite Eight teams
- 'Only Murders' fans: Steve Martin's full life on display in Apple TV+ doc 'Steve!'
- Supreme Court allows investors’ class action to proceed against microchip company Nvidia
- Inmate escapes Hawaii jail, then dies after being struck by hit-and-run driver
- The Moscow concert massacre was a major security blunder. What’s behind that failure?
- A Russian journalist who covered Navalny’s trials is jailed in Moscow on charges of extremism
Recommendation
-
Through 'The Loss Mother's Stone,' mothers share their grief from losing a child to stillbirth
-
Deer with 'rare' genetic mutation photographed in Oregon: See pics here
-
Poison reports for dogs surge 200% at Easter: What to know to keep dogs, other pets safe
-
Truck driver charged with criminally negligent homicide in fatal Texas bus crash
-
US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise
-
Tori Spelling files to divorce estranged husband Dean McDermott after 17 years of marriage
-
Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Husband Ryan Anderson Split: Untangling Their Eyebrow-Raising Relationship
-
Men’s March Madness live updates: Sweet 16 predictions, NCAA bracket update, how to watch