LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jon Landau, an Oscar-winning producer who labored intently with director James Cameron on three of the most important blockbusters of all time, “Titanic” and two “Avatar” movies, has died. He was 63.
Landau’s household introduced his loss of life Saturday. No reason behind loss of life was given.
Landau’s partnership with Cameron led to 3 Oscar nominations and a finest image win for 1997′s “Titanic.” Collectively the pair account for a few of the greatest blockbusters in film historical past, together with “Avatar” and its sequel, “Avatar: The Means of Water.”
Cameron, in a press release, remembered “a pricey buddy, and my closest collaborator of 31 years.” “Part of myself has been torn away,” stated Cameron.
“His zany humor, private magnetism, nice generosity of spirit and fierce can have held the middle of our Avatar universe for nearly 20 years,” stated Cameron. “His legacy isn’t just the movies he produced, however the private instance he set — indomitable, caring, inclusive, tireless, insightful and completely distinctive.”
Landau’s profession started within the Nineteen Eighties as a manufacturing supervisor, and he step by step rose via the ranks, serving as a co-producer on “Honey I Shrunk the Children” and “Dick Tracy.”
He took on the producer function on “Titanic,” Cameron’s costly epic concerning the notorious 1912 maritime catastrophe. The wager paid off: “Titanic” grew to become the primary film to cross $1 billion in international box-office earnings and went on to win 11 Oscars, together with finest image.
“I can’t act and I can’t compose and I can’t do visible results, so I assume that’s why I’m producing.” Landau stated whereas accepting the award with Cameron.
Their partnership continued, with Landau turning into a high government at Cameron’s Lightstorm Leisure. In 2009 the pair watched as “Avatar,” a sci-fi epic filmed and proven in theaters with groundbreaking 3D expertise, surpassed the box-office success of “Titanic.” It stays the top-grossing movie of all time.
Its sequel, “Avatar: The Means of Water,” is third on the checklist.
“Your knowledge and help formed so many people in methods we are going to at all times be pleased about,” Zoe Saldaña, one of many stars of the “Avatar” franchise, stated in an emotional tribute on Instagram. “Your legacy will proceed to encourage us and information us in our journey.”
Landau has been a key participant within the “Avatar” franchise, which noticed frequent delays of the discharge of “The Means of Water.” Landau defended the sequel’s progress and Cameron’s formidable plans to movie a number of sequels without delay to maintain the franchise going.
“Rather a lot has modified however lots hasn’t,” Landau instructed The Related Press in 2022, just a few months forward of the sequel’s launch. “One of many issues that has not modified is: Why do individuals flip to leisure at present? Similar to they did when the primary ‘Avatar’ was launched, they do it to flee, to flee the world by which we dwell.”
“Jon was a visionary whose extraordinary expertise and keenness introduced a few of the most unforgettable tales to life on the large display screen. His exceptional contributions to the movie business have left an indelible mark, and he will likely be profoundly missed. He was an iconic and profitable producer but an excellent higher individual and a real pressure of nature who impressed throughout him,” Alan Bergman, Disney Leisure co-chairman, stated in a press release.
Landau was named an government vp of function films at twentieth Century Fox when he was 29, which led him to supervise main hits together with “Residence Alone” and its sequel, in addition to “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “True Lies,” the place he first began working intently with Cameron.
Landau was additionally influential in bringing the manga adaptation “Alita: Battle Angel” to the large display screen in 2019. Cameron supported the undertaking, however his “Avatar” commitments saved him from directing it. As an alternative, Landau labored with director Robert Rodriguez to get the movie accomplished.
Born in New York on July 23, 1960, Landau was the son of movie producers Ely and Edie Landau. The household moved to Los Angeles within the Nineteen Seventies, and Landau went on to graduate from the College of Southern California’s movie college.
Ely Landau died in 1993. Edie Landau, the Oscar-nominated producer of movies like “Lengthy Day’s Journey Into Night time,” “Hopscotch” and “The Lethal Sport,” died in 2022.
Jon Landau is survived by his spouse of almost 40 years, Julie; their sons, Jamie and Jodie; and two sisters and a brother.
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