Jon Landau (film producer)

Not to be confused with Jon Landau or John Landau.

Jon Landau
Head and shoulders images of Jon Landau looking to right of camera at 2022 press conference in Tokyo Landau in 2022
Born	(1960-07-23)July 23, 1960 New York City, U.S.
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	University of Southern California
Occupation	Film producer
Years active	1987–2024
Spouse(s)	Julie
Children	2
Parents	Ely Landau (father) Edie Landau (mother)

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 disaster film Titanic (1997). He was also nominated for producing Cameron's 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.

Early life

Landau was 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.

Career

Throughout the early 1990s, Landau was executive vice president of feature film production at Twentieth Century Fox.

He is best known for producing Titanic (1997), a film which 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.

Personal life

For nearly 40 years, Landau was married to Julie. They had two sons, Jamie and Jodie.

Death

Landau died at the age of 63 on July 5, 2024. Variety reported that he died of cancer.

Awards

• Florida Film Critics Circle Award Winner – Titanic – (1997)
• Golden Globe Award Winner– Titanic – (1998)
• Producers Guild of America Darryl F Zanuck Theatrical Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award Winner – Titanic – (1998)
• Academy Award Winner – Titanic – (1998)
• Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Award Winner – Titanic – (1998)
• MTV Movie Award Winner– Titanic – 1997
• People Choice Award Winner – Titanic – (1999)
• Golden Globe Award Winner – Avatar – (2010)
• Producers Guild of America Darryl F Zanuck Theatrical Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award Nomination – Avatar – (2010)
• Academy Award Nomination – Avatar – (2010)
• Golden Globe Award Nomination – Avatar: The Way of Water – (2023)
• Producers Guild of America Darryl F Zanuck Theatrical Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award Nomination – Avatar: The Way of Water – (2023)
• Academy Award Nomination – Avatar: The Way of Water – (2023)

Filmography

Producer

• Campus Man (1987)
• Titanic (1997)
• Solaris (2002)
• Avatar (2009)
• Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
• Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
• Avatar 3 (2025)
• Avatar 4 (2029)

Co-producer

• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
• Dick Tracy (1990)

External links

• Jon Landau at the Internet Movie Database