Jon Landau

Born: 1960-07-23

Jon Landau (/ˈlændaʊ/; July 23, 1960–July 5, 2024) was an American film producer who won an Academy Award for Best Picture for producing James Cameron's epic romantic disaster film Titanic (1997). He was also nominated for producing Cameron's epic science fiction films, Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). As of 2024, these are three of the four highest-grossing films of all time. Landau was born in New York City on July 23, 1960, as the son of Edie, a producer, and Ely A. Landau, a studio executive and producer. He had two half-brothers, Neil Landau and Les Landau, and two sisters, Tina Landau and Kathy Landau. He attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Landau was Jewish. Throughout the early 1990s, Landau was executive vice president of feature film production at Twentieth Century Fox. In 1993, he would meet James Cameron while he was, as Cameron put it, "serving as the studio ‘suit’ assigned to oversee True Lies." According to Cameron, he "lured" Landau "away from Fox to join my production company, Lightstorm." He was best known for producing Titanic (1997), a film that won him an Academy Award and became the highest-grossing film of all time, the first ever to reach $1 billion in gross revenues. The film reached $1.84 billion, more than double the $914 million of then-record-holder Jurassic Park (1993). Titanic later went on to gross another $300 million in 2012, pushing the film's worldwide total to $2.18 billion, becoming the second film to ever hit $2 billion as a result. In 2009, Landau and James Cameron produced the science fiction blockbuster Avatar, which has since surpassed their earlier collaboration, Titanic, to become the new highest-grossing film of all time, with $2.92 billion. Avatar earned Landau his second Academy Award nomination. Shortly after his death in July 2024, James Cameron stated that it was Landau who was in fact "the heart of the Avatar family” and "the centre of gravity of our bubble universe." For nearly 40 years, Landau was married to Julie Lamm. They had two sons. Landau died in Los Angeles on July 5, 2024, at the age of 63. Variety reported that he died of cancer. Avatar: Fire and Ash, Avatar 4, and Avatar 5, which were produced by him prior to his death, will be released posthumously. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jon Landau, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


Placeholder

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

as Self
Released: 2022-12-13

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

Movie page

Capturing Avatar

as Self
Released: 2010-11-16

Capturing Avatar is a feature length behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Avatar....

Movie page

Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora

as Self
Released: 2010-02-07

The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.

Movie page

Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You

as Self
Released: 2020-10-23

A tribute to The E Street Band, rock ‘n’ roll, and the way music has shaped Bruce Springsteen’s...

Movie page

Reflections on Titanic

as Self
Released: 2012-09-10

An enthralling and fast-paced four-part documentary feature that covers the making of one of the...

Movie page

Inside Pandora's Box

as Self
Released: 2023-03-28

A series of featurettes on the challenges facing cast and crew as filmmakers devise new...

Movie page

Wreckage and Rage: Making 'Alien³'

as Self
Released: 2003-12-02

The creation of the film Alien³ (1992) is covered here in this feature-length documentary in...

Movie page

Brian May's Brief History of 3D

as Self
Released: 2011-08-04

A look into the history of 3D by Brian May from Queen.

Movie page

HBO First Look

as Self
First aired: 1992-06-12

HBO First Look is an American television show on HBO that chronicles up and coming movies. It...

TV Show page