James Cameron remembers Jon Landau on 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' premiere

Jon Landau, best known for producing the Avatar films, passed away last year. Now, during the world premiere of Avatar: Fire and Ash, director James Cameron remembers him in glowing words.

“There's one person conspicuously absent on this stage tonight, and that is my producing partner of 33 years, Jon Landau, who passed away last year,” he shares.

The filmmaker continues, “John fought so hard to stay with us and to stay part of the film. And his spirit infuses all the Avatar films, and we all, when he passed — it was a blow. It was a shock. And it was not lost on us that we were making a film about how humans process their loss and their grief.”

His death, James adds, energized the cast and the crew to make the forthcoming Fire and Ash better. 

“His spirit not only infused all the films, but I believe it sort of caused us to step up and rise to a higher level to make a film that he would've been proud of. And so that's what we did. And now we present that film,” he concludes.

In 2024, Jon breathed his last after a diagnosis of cancer. He was 71.