Jon Landau, Oscar-winning producer of “Titanic” and “Avatar,” dies at the age of 63

Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer who worked with director James Cameron on blockbusters Titanic and two User image Movies, died of cancer on Friday, as Variety reportsHe was 63.

Landau’s producing partnership with Cameron earned him three Academy Award nominations and a Best Picture trophy for the 1997 film. TitanicThe couple also made three of the four most successful films of all time. In addition to TitanicThe first film to gross more than one billion dollars worldwide and currently ranks fourth on the list of highest-grossing films is the User image at number one and the continuation of 2022, Avatar: The Way of Wateris number three. (Avengers: Endgame is number two.)

Landau began his film career in the 1980s as a production manager and rose through the ranks. At the age of 29, he was appointed executive vice president of feature film production at 20th Century Fox. He met Cameron while working on True LiesIn 1994, Cameron asked Landau to read a script that was then known under the code name “Planet Ice” and later TitanicThe film won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture.

“I can’t act, I can’t compose, I can’t do visual effects, so I guess that’s why I’m a producer,” Landau joked during his Best Picture acceptance speech alongside Cameron, in which he also thanked a long list of people who helped make the film.

Their fruitful partnership lasted for the last three decades. Landau became a top executive at Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment, where he and Cameron User image in 2009; the film remains the highest-grossing film of all time.

Before his death, Landau was instrumental in the production of the upcoming User image Sequels. Cameron’s science fiction franchise is set to include five more films.

“Jon was a visionary whose extraordinary talent and passion brought some of the most unforgettable stories to life on screen. His remarkable contributions to the film industry have left an indelible mark and we will miss him deeply,” Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, said in a statement on Saturday. “He was an iconic and successful producer, but an even better human being and a true force of nature who inspired everyone around him.”