Remembering Jon Landau: Stories from His Incredible Career

In our interview with James Cameron, the filmmaker reflected on the legacy of his longtime producing partner, Jon Landau, emphasizing that Landau’s impact extended far beyond box office milestones and into the culture he built behind the scenes.

“He did it through kindness, and through sharing, and through creating an esprit de corps. And a lot of the Avatar family — the behind-the-scenes family, not the on-screen family — the camaraderie between the cast and the artists and so on, is his doing.

“It’s just a motif or a theme, the way in which he produced a movie. He made people feel that they were doing something amazing every single day, even though it might be the hardest thing they’ve ever done. And he was so inclusive that way.

“I think we balanced each other. I think he constantly reminded me of the importance of that. Not by telling me, but just by showing me.

“And so now it’s our job, as the continuation of that Avatar family, to keep that camaraderie and that mutual respect, and that sense of fun, that sense of play. I mean, if you ever met Jon, he was pretty zany — a lot of bad puns, and practical jokes, and things like that.

“The harder the work, the more you have to play while you’re doing the work, and the more you have to see the people that you’re with. When I started out in my career, the movie was the most important thing, and everything along the way didn’t matter. Now I look at it as the process — the day-to-day journey — that’s the most important thing.

“And out of that will come a good movie, right? Just because everybody’s switched on, they’re bringing their best game.”

In Jon’s autobiography, he shared some fun facts:

• The movie that impacted Jon the most as a child was Mary Poppins, particularly the scene where Bert, Mary, and the kids jump into the chalk drawing.
• Jon credits Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and the experience of working with ILM legend Tom Smith for preparing him for Avatar.
• Before settling on Madonna as Breathless Mahoney in Dick Tracy, they considered Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathleen Turner, Kim Bassinger, Sharon Stone, Sheena Easton, and Princess Stephanie, the youngest child of Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly.
• After having trouble casting Little Face Finny, Jon and Warren Beatty saw Lawrence Steven Meyers and his little face in a restaurant, and Jon was able to convince him to be in the film.
• Fox initially passed on Avatar, so James and Jon took it to Disney, where Bob Iger, Alan Bergman, and then studio head Dick Cook saw the early work and were ready to come on board. But during that four-week process, Fox got financing lined up, and they ultimately backed the project.
• It was making the Universal attraction T2 3-D; Battle Across Time that made James Cameron love 3D, but want to develop a more nimble camera setup to be less burdensome. 
• James and Jon considered pitching Universal for the theme park rights to Avatar, but felt that Disney was better at creating immersive and expansive experiences.
• They entered their agreement with Disney Parks without knowing what they were going to build.
• After a test run, James Cameron and Bruce Vaughn decided that Flight of Passage did not need to be in 3D. Jon asked for a week and rendered a 3D version, which convinced the team to keep the attraction in 3D. 
• Bringing Pandora: The World of Avatar to life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the one thing that Jon was most proud of outside of his family.
• According to Jon, “bringing Pandora to life for thousands of people every day - and for generations to come - is itself a dream come true.

You can learn more about Jon Landau and his incredible legacy in his autobiography, The Bigger Picture: My Blockbuster Life & Lessons Learned Along the Way.