James Cameron laments Jon Landau, his longtime producing partner and partner who died of cancer at age 63 on July 5th. According to Cameron, Landau feels as though “part of me has been torn away”.
Cameron and Landau had long been producing partners, working closely on films like Titanic and Avatar series.
Cameron lamented Jon Landau’s passing in an exclusive statement to Variety: “Jon was one of our Avatar family’s dearest friends and leaders — with his irreverent humor, personal charismatic qualities, generous nature, great generosity of spirit, fierce willpower and powerful vision having served to shape Avatar’s universe for nearly two decades,” Cameron noted in this regard.
Cameron applauded Landau for both his expertise in helping push boundaries of filmmaking as well as for her admirable qualities as an individual.
“His legacy lies not solely in his films but in his personal example – indomitable, caring, inclusive, tireless, insightful and wholly distinctive,” Cameron noted of De Niro’s life work. His films produced not by wielding power but rather through spreading warmth and the joy of cinema-making itself; his passion inspired us all to do our best every day and bring out their best potentials in us all,” Cameron lamented. Cameron added “I have lost both a dear friend as well as my closest collaborator of 31 years – part of me has gone with him”.
Jon Landau, Oscar-Winning Producer of “Avatar” and ‘Titanic”, Dies at Age 63
Cameron and Landau first collaborated as film executives at 20th Century Fox where Landau oversaw Cameron’s 1994 action comedy, “True Lies”, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Following Landau’s departure, Cameron asked if he wanted to read the script for what became “Planet Ice”, later released under its original title of Titanic (1997 release date), that broke $1 billion at global box offices worldwide and took home two Academy Awards as producers when “Titanic” won best picture the following year.
Landau would remain associated with Cameron for the remainder of his life, producing 2009’s “Avatar” and its 2022 followup “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Both films eclipsed “Titanic’s record gross by more than $200 million each; together Landau and Cameron boast three out of the four highest grossing movies ever created – two being over $2.25 billion grossers like “Titanic”.
Recently, Landau and his co-star celebrated their career achievements at Los Angeles’ Chinese Theatre by participating in a Hand and Footprint Ceremony that immortalized “The Way of Water.” Before his passing away, he was heavily involved with producing “Avatar” movies with release dates set for December 19, 2025 and Dec 19, 2026 respectively.
Landau was also Chief Operating Officer at Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment production company and served as its architect of various Lightstorm ancillary projects such as Dark Horse Comics and Penguin Random House’s various “Avatar” print spinoffs. Additionally, Landau advised Ubisoft’s December launch “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora”, as well as Tencent Games Level Infinite’s release “Avatar Reckoning”.
Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, paid their own respects. Bergman shared these sentiments: “Jon was an exceptional visionary whose extraordinary talent and passion brought some unforgettable stories to the big screen. His contributions have left an indelible mark, and will be sorely missed; an iconic producer with incredible charm who inspired all around him – our thoughts go out to Jon’s wife Julie as well as family and loved ones at this difficult time.”
Stephen Rivkin, editor on all three “Avatar” films said in a statement, “Jon was our hero – always fighting tirelessly on behalf of these movies as an advocate and guide, inspiring and mentoring the Avatar team with every film made over its 12-year lifespan.” I consider myself fortunate to have known Jon in both professional capacities and personally; we will miss him irreparably but know his spirit will live on in all our hearts forevermore.”
Pictured are Jon Landau and James Cameron
