WireImage,
Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer of “Titanic” and each “Avatar” motion pictures, has died of most cancers. He was 63.
Landau, a longtime producing accomplice to James Cameron, was behind three of the highest 4 highest-grossing motion pictures of all time. Landau helped make historical past with “Titanic,” the primary movie to cross $1 billion on the international field workplace. He topped that film’s record-breaking grosses twice, with 2009’s “Avatar” and its sequel, 2022’s “Avatar: The Method of Water.”
Earlier than his loss of life, Landau was deeply concerned within the manufacturing of the “Avatar” sequels. Cameron is planning to fill his blockbuster sci-fi franchise with 5 motion pictures in whole, with the fifth tentatively popping out in 2031.
Talking to Selection on the “Method of Water” premiere, Landau recalled screening the film for the principal solid. “After I noticed them tearing up, I needed to tear up,” he mentioned.
Within the Nineteen Nineties, Landau was the manager vp of function movie manufacturing at twentieth Century Fox, which in 1995 struck a primary look take care of Cameron’s Lightstorm Leisure, the place Landau served as chief working officer. At twentieth Century, Landau oversaw movies corresponding to “Die Exhausting 2,” “Energy Rangers,” “True Lies” and “The Final of the Mohicans.”
He moreover is the architect of Lightstorm’s ancillary initiatives, corresponding to Darkish Horse Comics and Penguin Random Home’s varied “Avatar” print spinoffs. Landau additionally suggested the creation of “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora,” the well-received Ubisoft recreation that launched in December, in addition to an internet multiplayer role-playing recreation from Tencent Video games’ Degree Infinite known as “Avatar: Reckoning.”
Landau’s different producing credit embody 1987’s “Campus Man,” 2002’s “Solaris” and 2019’s “Alita: Battle Angel.”
“We communicate for all the Wētā FX group once we say we’re devastated by the lack of Jon Landau. Jon was not solely a monumental determine within the movie business but additionally a cherished collaborator and good friend,” mentioned Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, whose Wētā FX firm was the visible results home for the “Avatar” motion pictures. “Jon introduced unparalleled ardour to the initiatives he labored on and his affect will proceed to encourage for years to return. Our deepest condolences are with Jon’s household and family members, in addition to Jim and the Lightstorm Leisure group.”
Joe Letteri, who was the VFX supervisor on the “Avatar” movies, added in his personal assertion, “I’m heartbroken on the lack of our good friend Jon Landau. He was a tremendous and beneficiant man, and a world-class movie maker who leaves a legacy that may final for generations. On behalf of all of us at Wētā FX, it was an honour to work beside him. His dedication to the artwork of filmmaking impressed us day-after-day. Our ideas are along with his household and family members.”
“Titanic” actor Frances Fisher paid tribute to Landau on X, writing, “Relaxation in Energy Jon.”
Landau was born in New York, N.Y., on July 30, 1960, to Ely and Edie Landau, who have been additionally each movie producers. He attended USC’s Faculty of Cinematic Arts.