Bernd Eichinger (; 11 April 194924 January 2011) was a German film producer, director, and screenwriter.

Life and career

Eichinger was born in

Neuburg an der Donau Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany. Divisions The municipality has 16 divisions: * Altmannstetten * Bergen, Neu ...

. He attended the

University of Television and Film Munich The University of Television and Film Munich (German: Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München, short: HFF Munich) is a publicly funded film school in Munich, Germany. The school was established in 1966 by decree of the Bavarian government. T ...

in the 1970s and bought a stake in the fledgling studio company ''Neue Constantin Film'' in 1979, becoming its executive director. Under his leadership,

Constantin Film The Constantin Film AG is a German mini-major film production and distribution company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of pr ...

evolved into one of the most successful German film businesses. As of 2005, he was chairman of the supervisory board and still owned a substantial stake in the company. Eichinger also produced some movies independently (for example, '' Downfall''). One of Eichinger's last films was about the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

terrorist group

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...

(RAF) and based on the book ''

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex ''The Baader Meinhof Complex'' (german: Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, ) is a 2008 German drama film directed by Uli Edel. Written and produced by Bernd Eichinger, it stars Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, and Johanna Wokalek. The film is base ...

'' ("''The

Baader Baader is a surname of German origin. People with the surname Baader * Andreas Baader (1943–1977), militant of the Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion), also known as the ''Baader Meinhoff Gang'' * Caspar Baader (born 1953), Swiss politicia ...

Meinhof Meinhof is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Carl Meinhof (1857–1944), German linguist *Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red A ...

Complex''") by

Stefan Aust Stefan Aust (; born 1 July 1946) is a German journalist. He was the editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine ''Der Spiegel'' from 1994 to February 2008 and has been the publisher of the conservative leading ''Die Welt'' newspaper since 2014 ...

. The range of genres of films, for television and the big screen, was unusually varied. He produced a 3D zombie movie, '' Resident Evil: Afterlife''; to ''

Atomised ''Atomised'', also known as ''The Elementary Particles'' (french: Les Particules élémentaires), is a novel by the French author Michel Houellebecq, published in France in 1998. It tells the story of two half-brothers, Michel and Bruno, and ...

'', a film adaptation of novel by French star writer and social critic

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1956 or 1958) is a French author, known for his novels, poems and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer ...

. He was an incredibly prolific film maker, with almost 100 films to his credit. Eichinger was known as tenacious. It took him 20 years to convince

Patrick Süskind Patrick Süskind (; born 26 March 1949) is a German writer and screenwriter, known best for his novel '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'', first published in 1985. Early life Süskind was born in Ambach, Bavaria. His father was writer and jo ...

, the German author of '' Perfume:The Story of a Murderer'', to trust him with the rights to make the international bestseller into a film. In 2006, the film was released, grossing $135 million worldwide. In the 1980s, Eichinger obtained the film rights to the ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

'' and ''

Silver Surfer The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...

'', decades before making movies based on Marvel comics was trending. In 1991, he was a co-founder of Summit, the Los Angeles-based production and film sales company. Due to the success of ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

,'' Summit eventually became

Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment is an American film production and distribution company. It is a label of Lionsgate Films, owned by Lionsgate Entertainment and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. History Independent era (1991–2012) Summit E ...

Family

Bernd Eichinger and Katja Hofmann (Berlin Film Festival 2008)

Eichinger was married to

Katja Hofmann Katja Eichinger (' Hofmann; born 20 April 1971) is a German author and journalist. Early life and education Born in Kassel, Eichinger graduated from the British Film Institute's MA programme in 1995. Career Early in her career, Eichinger wo ...

, a journalist. He had a daughter from a previous relationship, Nina Eichinger, an actress and TV presenter.

Death

Eichinger died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on 24 January 2011 at the age of 61.

Awards

*1984

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are th ...

, Best Producing *1986

, Best Producing *1993

, Best Producing

Selected filmography

Bernd Eichinger's best known films include:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eichinger, Bernd 1949 births 2011 deaths People from Neuburg an der Donau Mass media people from Bavaria University of Television and Film Munich alumni Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany