Other notable credits includeSolaris (2002) andAlita: Battle Angel (2019), both produced alongside Cameron, as well asHoney, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) andDick Tracy (1990). Following his death from cancer in 2024, Landau's final works will be the next threeAvatar films, for which he will be credited posthumously. His memoirThe Bigger Picture: My Blockbuster Life & Lessons Learned Along The Way, written after his cancer diagnosis, was published in November 2025, featuring aforeword by Cameron.
Landau was born in New York City on July 23, 1960,[1] as the son ofEdie, a producer, andEly A. Landau, a studio executive and producer. He had two half-brothers, Neil Landau andLes Landau, and two sisters,Tina Landau and Kathy Landau.[2] His family moved toBrentwood during his junior year of high school,[3] where he attendedBrentwood School,[4] graduating in 1978. He later returned toBrentwood School to coach Varsity Football before embarking on his movie career. He attended theUSC School of Cinematic Arts, graduating in 1983.[5] Landau wasJewish.[6][2]
Throughout the early 1990s, Landau was executive vice president of feature film production atTwentieth Century Fox.[7] In 1993, he would meetJames Cameron while he was, as Cameron put it, "serving as the studio 'suit' assigned to overseeTrue Lies."[8] According to Cameron, he "lured" Landau "away from Fox to join my production company,Lightstorm."[8]
He was best known for producingTitanic (1997), a film which won him anAcademy Award and became thehighest-grossing film of all time, the first ever to reach $1 billion in gross revenues. The film reached $1.84 billion, more than double the $914 million of then-record-holderJurassic Park (1993).Titanic later went on to gross another $300 million in 2012, pushing the film's worldwide total to $2.18 billion, becoming the second film to ever hit $2 billion, as a result.[9] In addition to producingTitanic, Landau also was responsible for buildingBaja Studios where the movie was filmed, in a record five months.[10]
Landau in 2019
In 2009, Landau andJames Cameron produced the science fictionblockbusterAvatar,[11] which has since surpassed their earlier collaboration,Titanic, to become the new highest-grossing film of all time, with $2.92 billion.Avatar earned Landau his second Academy Award nomination. Shortly after his death in July 2024, James Cameron stated that it was Landau who was in fact "the heart of the Avatar family” and "the center of gravity of our bubble universe."[8]
Landau died in Los Angeles on July 5, 2024, at the age of 63,[16] after a 16-month battle with esophageal cancer.[17][18] He had been diagnosed over a year prior to his passing, and chose to write a memoir as a result.[19]
^Landau, Jon (November 11, 2025).The Bigger Picture: My Blockbuster Life and Lessons Learned Along the Way. Westminster, Maryland: Disney Publishing Worldwide (published November 4, 2025). p. 208.ISBN9781368116091.
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