What was Jon Landau's Net Worth and Salary?
Jon Landau was an American film producer who had a net worth of $150 million. Jon Landau was best known for co-producing James Cameron's blockbuster films "Titanic," "Avatar," and "Avatar: The Way of Water," all of which earned over $2 billion in global box-office revenue. For "Titanic," he won the Academy Award for Best Picture alongside Cameron. Landau's other producing credits include Steven Soderbergh's 2002 adaptation of "Solaris" and Robert Rodriguez's 2019 manga adaptation "Alita: Battle Angel."
Early Life and Education
Jon Landau was born on July 23, 1960 in New York City to Jewish parents Edythe and Ely, both of whom were prolific film producers and executives. He has a younger sister named Tina, who went on to become a playwright and theatre director. The siblings moved with their family to Beverly Hills, California, where they attended Beverly Hills High School. For his higher education, Landau attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Film Producing Career
Landau began his career as a film producer in 1987 when he co-produced the comedy film "Campus Man" with Peggy Fowler. Starring John Dye, the film was a commercial flop, grossing under $1 million on a $5 million budget. In 1990, Landau was named senior vice president of feature production at 20th Century Fox. Later in the decade, in 1997, he had his career breakthrough as the co-producer of the romantic disaster film "Titanic," which was his first collaboration with director James Cameron. Starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, the film was a gigantic hit, becoming the first-ever to reach $1 billion in global box-office revenue. With a total of $1.84 billion worldwide, it set the record as the highest-grossing film of all time. "Titanic" continued to make history by winning 11 Academy Awards, tying it with "Ben-Hur" for the most trophies won by a single film. Among the awards was Best Picture, which went to Landau and Cameron. When "Titanic" was re-released in 2012, it grossed another $300 million, pushing its global box-office total to $2.18 billion.
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Landau's next film after "Titanic" was Steven Soderbergh's 2002 adaptation of Stanisław Lem's science-fiction novel "Solaris," starring George Clooney and Natascha McElhone. He co-produced the film with James Cameron and Rae Sanchini. The film earned mixed reviews from critics, and made $30 million on a budget of $47 million.
Landau had better success when he reunited with Cameron for the epic 3D science-fiction film "Avatar," which came out in 2009. The film ended up surpassing the gross of their earlier collaboration "Titanic" by grossing $2.9 billion worldwide, making it the new highest-grossing film of all time and the first-ever to reach $2 billion in global box-office revenue.
Landau and Cameron had another smash with the first "Avatar" sequel, 2022's "Avatar: The Way of Water," which grossed $2.3 billion globally. Both "Avatar" films earned Landau Academy Award nominations for Best Picture. Landau is also producing all the further "Avatar" sequels. Among his other producing credits, he co-produced Robert Rodriguez's 2019 manga adaptation "Alita: Battle Angel" with Cameron.
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Florida Mansion
Landau previously lived on a 4-acre property in Islamorada in the Florida Keys that he purchased for $5.8 million in 2010. Built in 2001 by father-daughter architects David and Heidi Harum, the Balinese-inspired property boasts six bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms, seven guest pods with private entrances, and a 1,000-bottle wine room, plus beachfront grounds with a snorkeling area, infinity pool, hot tub, tennis court, and a 7,000-gallon saltwater pond. The estate is also rife with over 300 species of plants, each cataloged via QR code. Landau dubbed the property "Bali Hai." In 2022, he sold the property for $13.9 million. Here is a video tour of Bali Hai from when it was for sale:
Personal Life & Death
With his wife Julie, Landau had two sons named Jamie and Jody. Unfortunately, Jon died on July 5, 2024 at the age of 63, reportedly of cancer.
