By C. Perera, JadeTimes News
Jon Landau, the Oscar winning producer behind some of the world's highest grossing films, including "Titanic" and "Avatar," has passed away at the age of 63. Landau, who had a long standing partnership with filmmaker James Cameron, reportedly died on Friday after battling cancer for over a year. His sister, Tina, announced his death on social media, describing him as "the best brother a girl could ever dream of."
"My heart is broken but also bursting with pride and gratitude for his extraordinary life, and the love and gifts he gave to me and everyone who knew him or his films," she wrote.
Landau, the son of Hollywood producers Ely and Edie Landau, once served as an executive at 20th Century Fox, where he oversaw films such as "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Die Hard 2." In collaboration with Cameron, he produced the 1997 hit "Titanic," the first film to surpass $1 billion at the global box office. His later works, "Avatar" and its sequel "Avatar: The Way of Water" , went on to break "Titanic's" records.
Landau also co produced successful films like "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" and "Dick Tracy" and held a management role at Cameron's production company, Lightstorm Entertainment. Following his death, Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter, "A great producer and a great human being has left us."
"Jon Landau believed in the dream of cinema. He saw film as the ultimate human art form, and to make films, you must first be human yourself," Cameron added. "He will be remembered for his vast generosity of spirit as much as for his movies."
Director Sir Peter Jackson and screenwriter Fran Walsh, whose visual effects company worked on the "Avatar" films, expressed their devastation over Landau's passing, saying, "Jon brought unparalleled passion to his projects, and his influence will inspire for years to come."
Zoe Saldaña, who starred in the "Avatar" films, shared a heartfelt message on Instagram, stating that Landau's death was "hitting really hard."
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