Jan de Bont (; born 22 October 1943) is a Dutch

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. He is best known for directing the films ''

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

'' (1994) and ''

Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (1989 ...

'' (1996). As a director of photography, de Bont also worked on numerous blockbusters and

genre films Genre Films, usually credited as Kinberg Genre, is a production company founded by screenwriter-producer-director Simon Kinberg. History Genre Films in April 2010 signed a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox, which gave Fox "direct access" ...

, including ''

Cujo ''Cujo'' () is a 1981 psychological horror novel by American writer Stephen King about a rabid Saint Bernard. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982 and was made into a film in 1983. Background Cujo's name was based on the alias of ...

'', '' Flesh and Blood'', ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Ale ...

'', ''

The Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...

'', and ''

Basic Instinct ''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wealt ...

''.

Early life and career

De Bont was born to a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, one of 17 children. His earliest works were made while studying at the Amsterdam Film Academy with Dutch avant-garde director

Adriaan Ditvoorst Adriaan Ditvoorst (23 January 1940 – 18 October 1987) was a Dutch film director and screenwriter. He directed nine films between 1965 and 1984. His 1967 film ''Paranoia'' was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival. Selec ...

. He first became known in the Netherlands as the

for the infamous 1971 film ''

Blue Movie ''Blue Movie'' (also known as ''Fuck'') is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, and is re ...

'', followed by the 1973 film ''

Turkish Delight Turkish delight or lokum ( ota, لوقوم) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often f ...

'' (1973), directed by

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

, starring

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

and

Monique van de Ven Monica Maria Theresia "Monique" van de Ven (; born 28 July 1952) is a Dutch actress and director. Life and career From 1973 until 1988 she was married to Dutch cinematographer and director Jan de Bont, with whom she lived in Los Angeles for a ...

. Since the early 1980s, he has worked frequently in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, often collaborating with directors including Verhoeven and

John McTiernan John Campbell McTiernan Jr. (born January 8, 1951) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his action films, especially ''Predator (film), Predator'' (1987), ''Die Hard'' (1988), and ''The Hunt for Red October (film), The Hunt for Red ...

. While serving as cinematographer for the 1981 film '' Roar'', de Bont experienced one of many on-set injuries during filming, when a lion lifted his scalp, requiring 220 stitches. After ''Roar'', de Bont shot the 1983 horror film ''Cujo'', an adaptation of the

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

novel of the same name. In 1988, he was director of photography on the critically acclaimed action film ''

''. The following year, de Bont shot the

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

-directed action thriller '' Black Rain''.

Directing

De Bont made his directorial debut with the action thriller ''

'' in 1994, which was a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

. He followed this up with the even more successful ''

'' in 1996. His output since has had mixed commercial and critical success. In 1997, he returned to direct the sequel'' Speed 2: Cruise Control'', which was a commercial and critical failure. In 1999, he oversaw the commercially successful but critically derided remake of '' The Haunting'', which received five

Razzie The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

nominations, including

Worst Picture The Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture is an award given out at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst film of the past year. Over the 39 ceremonies that have taken place, there have been 202 films nominated for Worst Picture and 42 ...

. His most recent directorial outing was the 2003 action adventure film '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life'', based on the video game series of the same name, and starring

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

as the eponymous

Lara Croft Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around th ...

Unrealized ''Godzilla'' project

De Bont began pre-production on an American ''Godzilla'' film for a summer 1996 release, but quit at the end of 1994 when

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, ac ...

(

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

and

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...

's parent company) refused to approve his budget request. He was eventually replaced by

Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the industry. His films, most of wh ...

, who rewrote the script in addition to directing. While critically panned, Emmerich's ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

'' was moderately successful at the box-office.

Personal life

He was married to Dutch actress

from 1973 to 1988. Monique starred in the 1973 film ''

'', for which de Bont did the cinematography. De Bont has two children from his second marriage with Trish Reeves. De Bont is an avid collector of photography, owning hundreds of photographic prints by famous and influential photographers.

Filmography

As cinematographer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bont, Jan De 1943 births Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch cinematographers Dutch film directors Dutch emigrants to the United States People from Eindhoven Living people English-language film directors