Jan de Bont

Jan de Bont (; born 22 October 1943) is a Dutch former cinematographer, film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the action films ''Speed'' (1994) and ''Twister'' (1996). As a director of photography, de Bont also worked on numerous blockbusters and genre films, including ''Roar'' (1981), '' Cujo'' (1983), '' Flesh and Blood'' (1985), ''Die Hard'' (1988), ''The Hunt for Red October'' (1990), ''Lethal Weapon 3'' (1992), and ''Basic Instinct'' (1992).

Early life and career

De Bont was born to a Roman Catholic family in Eindhoven, Netherlands, one of 17 children. His earliest works were made while studying at the Amsterdam Film Academy with Dutch avant-garde director Adriaan Ditvoorst. He first became known in the Netherlands as the cinematographer for the infamous 1971 film ''Blue Movie'', followed by the 1973 film ''Turkish Delight'' (1973), directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Rutger Hauer and Monique van de Ven. Since the early 1980s, he has worked frequently in Hollywood, often collaborating with directors including Verhoeven and John McTiernan.

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 novel of the same name.

In 1988, he was director of photography on the critically acclaimed action film ''Die Hard''. The following year, de Bont shot the Ridley Scott-directed action thriller '' Black Rain''.

Directing

De Bont made his directorial debut with the action thriller ''Speed'' in 1994, which was a sleeper hit. He followed this up with the even more successful ''Twister'' in 1996. His output since has had mixed commercial and critical success. In 1997, he returned to direct ''Speed''s sequel '' Speed 2: Cruise Control'', which had a much worse critical reception than its predecessor and became a commercial failure. In 1999, he oversaw the commercially successful remake of '' The Haunting'', which received generally negative reviews from critics at the time. 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 as the eponymous Lara Croft.

Unrealised projects

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 (Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures's parent company) refused to approve his budget request. He was eventually replaced by Roland Emmerich, who rewrote the script in addition to directing. While critically panned, Emmerich's ''Godzilla'' was moderately successful at the box-office.

At one point, de Bont mooted an asteroid/space shuttle disaster film project called ''Galileo's Wake'' as a possible follow-up to '' Speed 2: Cruise Control''.

In 1997, de Bont was originally attached to direct the film '' Minority Report'', which Steven Spielberg would end up directing instead. Also that year, de Bont was attached to direct ''Supertanker'' at Centropolis Entertainment. Bill Pullman and Samuel L. Jackson were set to star to the film.

In 1998 he was developing to produce and direct the action film ''Pathfinder'' for Paramount Pictures.

In 1999 it was announced that he would direct '' The Adaptive Ultimate'' for 20th Century Fox, with Nicole Kidman attached to star but her schedule was too busy to commit at the time.

In January 2000, it was reported that de Bont would take on ''Dust'' as his next film, which would have been based upon the novel of the same name by Charles Pellegrino. De Bont planned to develop the script with his production partner Lucas Foster under his company label, Blue Tulip, based on an adaptation already written by Ted Humphrey. Peter Dowling, Patrick Massett and John Zinman also worked on the script.

In June 2000, de Bont was considering directing either ''Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat'', ''Food'', ''LAX'', or ''The 28th Amendment'' as his next film. None of the projects were produced, though the latter was reportedly further developed with Artists Production Group for Warner Bros.

More recently, de Bont was attached as the director of an early version of ''The Meg'', the ''Dracula'' sequel ''The Undead'', the John Cusack action thriller vehicle ''Stopping Power'', the ''Point Break'' sequel ''Indo'', the live action ''Mulan'', which would have starred Zhang Ziyi, as well as a proposed remake of the Johnny Cash film ''Five Minutes to Live'' written by Raul Inglis.

De Bont's passion project, a film titled ''Riders in the Sky'', about Indian tribes in the Midwest has been stuck in development hell for many years. "It was a beautiful story, very imaginative," said de Bont. The project went as far as locations having already been scouted and the sets designed, before being cancelled.

Personal life

He was married to Dutch actress Monique van de Ven from 1973 to 1988. Monique starred in the 1973 film ''Turkish Delight'', for which de Bont did the cinematography. De Bont has two children from his second marriage with Trish Reeves. He is an avid collector of photographic prints from noted photographers, having hundreds of them in his house.

Filmography

As cinematographer

See also

* 1997 Golden Raspberry Awards

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
Action film directors