Titanic, producer of Avatar for James Cameron was 63 years old

Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer who brought James Cameron's dreams to life by overcoming extreme logistical challenges to bring the filmmaker's film to fruition Titanic And Avatar The director of big-screen blockbusters has died at the age of 63.

Landau's son, Jamie Landau, confirmed his death to The Hollywood ReporterHe died Friday in Los Angeles, and no cause has been released.

The son of producers—his father was an Oscar nominee—the passionate Landau produced films such as Honey, I've shrunk the kids (1989) and Dick Tracy (1990) before spending about five years as an executive at Fox, where he oversaw production of Die Hard 2 (1990), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Cameron True lies (1994).

If Cameron had a problem with Arnold Schwarzenegger True liesPeter Chernin, then head of Fox Filmed Entertainment, told him: “Don't call me, deal with Jon,” Landau recalled in a Interview 2011He spent four months on location in the Florida Keys with the director.

When Landau decided to leave Fox to return to production, he said he received offers from three directors to collaborate on their next projects. He decided to work with Cameron, who wanted to make a film under the code name “Planet Ice.” Which, of course, turned out to be Titanic (1997).

Landau oversaw the 100-day construction of Fox Baja Studios, the 40-acre beachfront facility in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, that housed massive film sets, the world's largest filming pool and five sound stages, including one the size of a football field.

He had to rewrite the film's entire production schedule when it was determined that construction of the main exterior of the RMS Titanic would take two months longer than expected. By then, the film's original budget of $120 million had exceeded $200 million.

“There was a lot of pressure throughout filming, post-production and pre-release,” Landau said. said THE Los Angeles Times in 1998.

Fox, which financed the film with Paramount, “was very tough, but rightly so. And I was the one who paid the price. It was very difficult because I wanted to please all three masters: the studio, the director and the film. And it was my job to find a balance… to not lose sight of that.”

Everything went well when Titanicwhich opened on December 19, 1997, held the number one spot at the box office for 15 consecutive weeks, en route to grossing $1.84 billion worldwide during its initial run, easily surpassing the previous record holder. jurassic park (1993). Subsequent releases over the years have increased its box office to $2.3 billion. (Read THR(Original review from here.)

The epic love story and disaster also garnered a record 11 Oscars — Landau and Cameron shared the Best Picture award — out of another record 14 nominations. On the podium at the Shrine Auditorium on Oscar night, Landau may have set another record, for number of people thanked.

Avatar (2009) came with its share of imposing obstacles.

Cameron had written a roughly 100-page treatment in 1994, but the special effects technology to properly bring Pandora's Na'vi inhabitants to the screen (at least in Cameron's mind) didn't exist. It took the filmmaker, New Zealand company Weta Digital and others years to get it right, and principal photography didn't begin until 2007.

With an official budget of $237 million (some estimates put it at over $300 million), Fox Avatarmade in 3D, premiered in London on December 10, 2009. With its initial revenue of $2.7 billion, it beat Titanic to become the highest-grossing film of all time (with re-releases, its revenue now stands at $2.92 billion). (Here's THR(Original review by.)

Thirteen years later, Disney released Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), with its massive effects, underwater filming, pandemic challenges and $2.3 billion in gross revenue. Both Avatar Those two films collectively won four Oscars, while Landau and Cameron earned two additional Best Picture nominations.

“If one of Cameron’s superpowers is his depth of focus, that focus is partly made possible by the fact that Landau is somewhere nearby, with an Airpod sticking out of his ear, simultaneously having a phone conversation with Burbank about a deadline and a face-to-face conversation with a crew member in Wellington. [the New Zealand home of Weta] about another,” Rebecca Keegan wrote for a THR cover story in 2022.

“I’ve seen an evolution in him,” Landau told him of Cameron. “Jim learns from every experience he has. He looks back and says, ‘Here’s what worked, here’s what didn’t work, how can I improve on that?’”

As Landau was mid-sentence, Keegan wrote: “There was a loud knock on his office door and Cameron came in, Kramer-style. 'Did he tell you we were like an old married couple?' I don't want to say nice things in front of him—that would go to his head—but I have a feeling there's no problem we can't solve.”

Landau was born in New York City on July 23, 1960. His parents, Ely A. Landau and Edie Landau, owned movie theaters in Manhattan, founded the American Film Theater, and produced more than a dozen films, including A long journey from one day to the night (1962), The Pawnbroker (1965), The Iceman is Coming (1973) and The chosen (nineteen eighty one).

(In 1971, Ely received an Oscar nomination for the documentary King: A filmed disc… from Montgomery to Memphis. After his death in 1993, Edie had a long relationship with actor Martin E. Brooks.)

Landau played football at his high school in the Bronx before he and his family moved to the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles during his junior year. He helped The chosen While attending USC's School of Cinematic Arts and after graduating in 1983, he returned to New York to work as a set production assistant, primarily directing traffic, on a TV movie of the week.

Once that was done, he was offered a job filing in accounting. “I wasn’t interested in accounting and I certainly wasn’t interested in filing, but I said yes,” he noted. “I read everything I filed. I don’t know if I was supposed to do it, but I did it. I learned [a lot] “During these two weeks.”

He then worked as a production supervisor on Street of rhythms (1984), a breakdancing film, and Key exchange (1985), a romantic comedy, and as production manager on FX (1986), Manhunter (1986) and Making Mr. Right (1987).

Landau received his first producer credit at Paramount The campus man (1987), then co-produced two Disney films, that of Joe Johnston Honey, I've shrunk the kids and Warren Beatty Dick Tracy.

In 1989, at just 28, he was hired to oversee physical production at Fox. “I really saw it as a great opportunity to see how the industry works from the inside,” he said.

Landau became executive vice president of the studio while also overseeing Alone at home (1990), Aliens 3 (1992), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) and the film produced by Cameron Strange Days (1995).

When Cameron shared an early draft of Titanic “I fell in love with it. It wasn't just the script, but the idea that this might be the last time an old-school epic movie is made, with hundreds and hundreds of extras, that aren't digital,” Landau said.

Titanic was supposed to be a one-time job, but Landau would soon join Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment.

“It was through living this experience with Jim that we developed a greater mutual respect and a mutual bond, [when he said]“Wait, instead of going off and doing your own thing, why don’t you join Lightstorm?” Be a part of it and we’ll do things together. … What better filmmaker could I have who not only makes great films, but challenges you every day?”

A great salesman, the gregarious Landau traveled the world selling the potential of Avatar in 3D to exhibitors. “Initially, we would have been happy if there were 1,000 theaters in the world that could show a movie in 3D,” he said. “I think we ended up having close to 5,000 screens.”

Later, The way of water would bring moviegoers back to theaters following the pandemic. THRIn his review, David Rooney wrote: “The expanded, biodiverse world draws you in, the visual spectacle keeps you on the edge of your seat, the passion for environmental awareness is moving, and the war is as visceral and thrilling as any multiplex audience could wish for.”

“What I’m most proud of, as a lover of cinema and cinema, is that our film illustrated that in this post-pandemic or pandemic era – whatever you want to call it – there is still this potential to draw people out of their homes to participate in this incredible experience that is cinema,” he said. THRThis is Mia Galuppo.

“And I don't think there's anything like it in the world. As producers, directors, studios, exhibitors, we have a responsibility to continue to preserve this experience for generations to come.”

At Lightstorm, he and Cameron also produced Solaris (2002), the war documentary Beyond Glory (2015) and that of Robert Rodriguez Alita: Battle Angel (2019). They have also constantly put pressure on the Avatar franchise, with upcoming sequels planned for 2025, 2029 and 2031.

Besides Jamie, survivors include his wife of nearly 40 years, Julie, who worked as a film accountant; another son, Jodie, a singer, songwriter and percussionist; his sisters, Tina Landau, a theater director, and Kathy Landau, executive director of the Manhattan arts organization Symphony Space; and his half-brother Les Landau, a film director on Star Trek series.

One wonders how Cameron will continue without his right-hand man. After all, “James always had big dreams,” Landau said. said The Jewish Journal in 2010, “and it’s my job to make those dreams come true.”