Jon Landau was an Oscar-winning producer of “Titanic” and “Avatar” and a close collaborator with director James Cameron.
- Died: July 5, 2024 (Who else died on July 5?)
- Details of death: Died in Los Angeles of cancer at the age of 63.
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Jon Landau’s legacy
Jon Landau was the son of two film producers and movie executives, Edie and Ely Landau, so he knew a thing or two about getting movies made from a young age. He attended USC School of Cinematic Arts and by 1990’s arrival, at just 29, was an executive at Twentieth Century Fox, with co-producer credits on “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” and “Dick Tracy.” He also helped bring “Die Hard 2,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” and other popular films to the big screen.
That alone would have made for a successful career, but in the mid-’90s, Cameron began a collaboration that would help change film history when he worked with director James Cameron to produce “Titanic,” which went on to become (at the time) the highest grossing movie of all time and a huge cultural phenomenon. He’d work again with Cameron on “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” both of which would also become among the highest grossing movies of all time. In fact, they are three out of the four atop the list.
Landau left Fox to work with Cameron for the rest of his career, becoming chief operating officer at Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment. He was also a producer on movies like “Alita: Battle Angel” and “Western Stars.” Overall, he was nominated for an Oscar three times, winning once for “Titanic.” He also has two BAFTA nominations and was the Mary Pickford Award winner at the 2024 Satellite Awards, among other honors.
On what makes movies like Titanic special
“In a day and age when people think, ‘Oh, it’s about big explosions and technology,’ and all these things, movies are (still) about drama, movies are about characters.” —Interview with The Oklahoman, 2012
Tributes to Jon Landau
Full obituary: Variety
