Jan de Bont

Jan de Bont
Born 22 October 1943
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Occupation Film director, producer, cinematographer
Years active 1965–present
Spouse(s) Monique van de Ven (1977–1988)
Trish Reeves (?–present)

Jan de Bont (born 22 October 1943) is a Dutch cinematographer, producer, and film director.

Early life and career

De Bont was born, one of 17 children, to a Roman Catholic family in Eindhoven, Netherlands. His earliest work after studying at the Amsterdam Film Academy was with the Dutch avant garde director Adriaan Ditvoorst. He first came to fame in the Netherlands as the cinematographer for the 1973 movie Turkish Delight, directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Rutger Hauer and Monique van de Ven. Since the early 1980s, he worked frequently in Hollywood.

While serving as cinematographer for the 1981 film Roar, De Bont experienced one of many on-set injuries during filming, where a lion lifted his scalp, requiring 220 stitches.

Directing

De Bont made his directorial debut with the action thriller Speed in 1994, which was a surprise 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 the sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control, which was a commercial and critical failure. In 1999 he directed The Haunting remake. It was a commercial success, but heavily panned by critics, receiving five Razzie Award nominations and widely considered one of the worst remakes in cinema history.

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, Alexander (who had a part in Speed 2) and Anneke (who had a part in Twister).

Filmography

Year Film Director Producer Cinematographer Notes
1971 Business Is Business No No Yes
1973 Turkish Delight No No Yes
1975 Keetje Tippel No No Yes
1981 Private Lessons No No Yes
1981 Roar No No Yes
1983 Cujo No No Yes
The Fourth Man No No Yes
All the Right Moves No No Yes
1984 Bad Manners (aka: Growing Pains) No No Yes
1985 Flesh & Blood No No Yes
1986 Ruthless People No No Yes
1987 Who's That Girl? No No Yes
Leonard Part 6 No No Yes
1988 Die Hard No No Yes
1989 Black Rain No No Yes
Bert Rigby, You're a Fool No No Yes
1990 The Hunt for Red October No No Yes
Flatliners No No Yes
1992 Lethal Weapon 3 No No Yes
Basic Instinct No No Yes
1994 Speed Yes No No Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Director
1996 Twister Yes No No
1997 Speed 2: Cruise Control Yes Yes No Also writer
Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay
Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture
Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director
1999 The Haunting Yes No No Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director
2002 Equilibrium No Yes No
Minority Report No Yes No
2003 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life Yes No No
2012 Nema Aviona Za Zagreb No No Yes

Lost Godzilla project

De Bont began pre-production on an American Godzilla film for a summer 1996 release, but quit the film at the end of 1994 when Sony Pictures would not approve his budget request.

Collaborations

Speed Twister Speed 2 The Haunting
Sandra Bullock
No
No
Todd Field
No
No
Richard Lineback
No
No
Joe Morton
No
No
Glenn Plummer
No
No
Alan Ruck
No
No

See also

External links