Longtime film producer Jon Landau dies at 63 Sources explained that he had been battling cancer, TheWrap reported. Landau is best known for being a producer on several films for 20th Century Fox, such as Avatar movies and Titanic.
He was born on July 30, 1960, the son of Ely Landau and Edie Landau, film producers themselves. His first producer role was on the 1987 film campus people From Paramount. In 1997, he became a collaborator with James Cameron when he became an EP on Fox Feature Films. The two became a successful duo thanks to the aforementioned films, which became box-office hits and awards darlings (Titanic was the first film to gross over $1 billion at the global box office) and the highest-grossing film of all time. He also produced 2002’s Solaris (Directed by Stephen Soderbergh), co-producer Honey, I shrunk the baby and Dick Tracy, and oversees Fox’s power rangers Movie, True Lies, and the last of the mohawks.
Landau became housekeeper Avatar franchise in recent years and helped Cameron and Disney create sequel movies and Avatar Theme park attractions. As Chief Operating Officer of Lightstorm Entertainment, Landau leads Avatar’s Cross-media expansion to Dark Horse comics and video games, including games in 2023 Avatar: Pandora’s Frontier From Ubisoft.
io9 senior reporter Germain Lussier recalls what it was like to be on set alita battle angel (Landau also produced) and was in awe of him. “He sat us in a room and watched the whole movie with us,” Lucier recalled. “Even though it was already in production, it felt like he was pitching it to us. Explaining the story and why it meant so much to him. He was so confident, smart, and articulate that I walked out of the room thinking two things . One – if this movie was half as good, it would be great. Two – no wonder he’s one of the best producers in the world.
At the time of writing this article, Titanic Star Frances Fisher was one of the first to commemorate Landau on social media. Cameron has yet to say anything about his passing, but we’ll update when he reveals it. Until then, our condolences go out to Landau’s family and other loved ones.
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