What Is Jon Turteltaub's Net Worth?
Jon Turteltaub is an American film producer and director who has a net worth of $80 million. Jon Turteltaub is known for directing such films as "While You Were Sleeping," "National Treasure" and its sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "Last Vegas," and "The Meg." He has also directed some episodes of television series, including "Jericho" and "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist." In 2022, Turteltaub served as an executive producer on the Disney+ series "National Treasure: Edge of History."
Early Life and Education
Jon Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963, in New York City. He is the son of Shirley Steinberg and comedy writer Saul Turteltaub, best known for his work on the television sitcom "Sanford and Son." Jon is Jewish. For his higher education, Turteltaub first attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He went on to attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California.
Film Career in the 1990s
Turteltaub made his feature film directorial debut in 1990 with the adventure comedy "Think Big," starring twin bodybuilders Peter and David Paul. He also co-wrote the film alongside David Tausik and Edward Kovach. Jon next directed and co-wrote the German-American coproduction "Trabbi Goes to Hollywood," which came out in 1991. After that, he began his long-term professional partnership with Walt Disney Studios, directing the 1992 martial arts comedy "3 Ninjas." Turteltaub had his breakthrough with his fourth film, the 1993 sports comedy "Cool Runnings." Loosely based on the story of the first Jamaican national bobsleigh team to compete at the Olympics, the film stars John Candy, Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis, and Malik Yoba. "Cool Runnings" was a substantial hit, earning praise from critics and grossing over $150 million worldwide.
Turteltaub had another critical and commercial success in 1995 with his romcom "While You Were Sleeping," starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. The film grossed $182 million on a budget of $17 million. Jon's next film, the 1996 romantic fantasy "Phenomenon," was less critically successful. It stars John Travolta as a small-town man who is unexplainably transformed into a genius with telekinetic abilities. Despite the tepid reviews, the film was a box-office hit. Turteltaub closed out the decade with the psychological thriller "Instinct," starring Anthony Hopkins as an anthropologist convicted of murder. Other cast members include Cuba Gooding Jr., Donald Sutherland, and Maura Tierney. "Instinct" was both a critical and commercial flop upon release in 1999.
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Film Career in the 21st Century
Turteltaub kicked off the 21st century with the fantasy dramedy "The Kid," starring Bruce Willis as an image consultant who is confronted by a child version of himself, played by Spencer Breslin. In supporting roles are Emily Mortimer and Lily Tomlin, among others. "The Kid" earned mixed reviews from critics. Jon had his greatest commercial success yet with his next movie, the 2004 action-adventure film "National Treasure." Starring Nicolas Cage as a historian-cryptographer in search of a lost Freemason treasure, the film grossed over $345 million worldwide and launched a franchise. Turteltaub went on to direct the sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," which was released in 2007 to similar box-office success as its predecessor.
After the "National Treasure" movies, Turteltaub reunited with Nicolas Cage for a different kind of action-adventure fantasy, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." In the film, Cage stars as sorcerer Balthazar Blake, a former apprentice of Merlin who takes under his wing a modern-day physics student, played by Jay Baruchel. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was ultimately unable to reach the box-office heights of the "National Treasure" movies before it. More commercially successful was Turteltaub's subsequent film, the 2013 comedy "Last Vegas," starring Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, and Mary Steenburgen. Five years after that, Turteltaub had an even bigger hit with the science-fiction monster film "The Meg," which grossed more than $530 million worldwide.
Television Career
Although primarily a film director, Turteltaub has ventured into television on occasion. In 1998, he directed an episode of the 12-part HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon" about the Apollo program in the 1960s and early 1970s. After a break, Turteltaub returned to television in 2006 to direct three episodes of the post-apocalyptic drama series "Jericho," which he also executive produced. He went on to direct single episodes of the limited mystery-horror series "Harper's Island," the dramedy "Common Law," and the police procedural "Rush Hour," based on the film series of the same name.
In 2020, Turteltaub directed two episodes of the first season of the NBC musical series "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist," including the acclaimed episode "Zoey's Extraordinary Glitch." A couple years after that, he executive produced the Disney+ series "National Treasure: Edge of History," a continuation of the film series he directed.
Personal Life
Jon is married to British television writer and producer Amy Eldon. They have had three children together. Amy is the sister of photojournalist Dan Eldon, who was stoned to death alongside several other journalists in Somalia in 1993. Jon and his family live in Malibu, California, next to his wife's parents. Outside of his professional life, Turteltaub also serves on the Creative Council of Represent.Us, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization. He has also been involved in politics. Ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Jon directed an anti-Trump video for the Lincoln Project.
