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Producer of three of the biggest movies of all time mourned by Hollywood

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Jon Landau, an Oscar-winning producer who worked closely with director James Cameron on three of the biggest blockbusters of all time, Titanic and two Avatar films, has died. He was 63.

Alan Bergman, Disney Entertainment co-chairman, announced Landau’s death in a statement Saturday. No cause of death was given.

“Jon was a visionary whose extraordinary talent and passion brought some of the most unforgettable stories to life on the big screen. His remarkable contributions to the film industry have left an indelible mark, and he will be profoundly missed. He was an iconic and successful producer yet an even better person and a true force of nature who inspired all around him,” Bergman said.

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Jon Landau, James Cameron’s right-hand man, has passed aged 63. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Landau’s partnership with Cameron led to three Oscar nominations and a best picture win for 1997’s Titanic. Together the pair account for some of the biggest blockbusters in movie history, including Avatar and its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.

Landau’s career began in the 1980s as a production manager, and he gradually rose through the ranks, serving as a co-producer on Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Dick Tracy.

He took on the producer role on Titanic, Cameron’s expensive epic about the infamous 1912 maritime disaster. The bet paid off: Titanic became the first movie to cross $1 billion in global box-office earnings and went on to win 11 Oscars, including best picture.

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“I can’t act and I can’t compose and I can’t do visual effects, so I guess that’s why I’m producing.” Landau said while accepting the award with Cameron.

Their partnership continued, with Landau becoming a top executive at Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment. In 2009 the pair watched as Avatar, a sci-fi epic filmed and shown in theaters with groundbreaking 3D technology, surpassed the box-office success of Titanic. It remains the top-grossing film of all time.

Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water is third on the list.

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FILE - James Cameron, right, and Jon Landau hold the Oscars for Best Picture for the film "Titanic" at the 70th annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, March 23, 1998. Landau, an Oscar-winning producer who worked closely with director Cameron on Titanic" and the Avatar series, has died, announced in a statement Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
James Cameron, right, and Jon Landau hold the Oscars for Best Picture for the film “Titanic” at the 70th annual Academy Awards. (AP)

Landau has been a key player in the Avatar franchise, which saw frequent delays of the release of The Way of Water. Landau defended the sequel’s progress and Cameron’s ambitious plans to film multiple sequels at once to keep the franchise going.

“A lot has changed but a lot hasn’t,” Landau told The Associated Press in 2022, a few months ahead of the sequel’s release. “One of the things that has not changed is: Why do people turn to entertainment today? Just like they did when the first Avatar was released, they do it to escape, to escape the world in which we live.”

Landau was named an executive vice president of feature movies at 20th Century Fox when he was 29, which led him to oversee major hits including Home Alone and its sequel, as well as Mrs. Doubtfire and True Lies, where he first started working closely with Cameron.

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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 12: (L-R) Jon Landau and James Cameron attend their Hand and Footprint Cement Ceremony At TCL Chinese Theatre on January 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Jon Landau and James Cameron collaborated on the biggest movies of all time. (Getty)

Landau was also influential in bringing the manga adaptation Alita: Battle Angel to the big screen in 2019. Cameron supported the project, but his Avatar commitments kept him from directing it. Instead, Landau worked with director Robert Rodriguez to get the film completed.

Born in New York on July 23, 1960, Landau was the son of film producers Ely and Edie Landau. The family moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s, and Landau went on to graduate from the University of Southern California’s film school.

Ely Landau died in 1993. Edie Landau, the Oscar-nominated producer of films like Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Hopscotch and The Deadly Game, died in 2022.

FILE - From left, director Robert Rodriguez, actress Rosa Salazar and producer Jon Landau pose during a press conference to promote their new film "Alita: Battle Angel" in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 24, 2019. Landau, an Oscar-winning producer who worked closely with director James Cameron on Titanic" and the Avatar series, has died, announced in a statement Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
He was also influential in bringing the manga adaptation Alita: Battle Angel to the big screen in 2019 (AP)

Jon Landau is survived by his wife of nearly 40 years, Julie; their sons, Jamie and Jodie; and two sisters and a brother.

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