Age: 80
Birthplace: Eindhoven, Netherlands
Jan de Bont (born October 22, 1943) is a Dutch cinematographer, producer, and film director.
De Bont was born to a Roman Catholic family in Eindhoven, Netherlands, one of 17 children. 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.
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 was heavily panned by critics, receiving five Razzie Award nominations and being widely considered one of the worst remakes in cinema history.
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).
Year | Film | Director | Producer | Cinematographer | Notes |
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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 |
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.
Speed | Twister | Speed 2 | The Haunting | |
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Sandra Bullock |
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Todd Field |
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Richard Lineback |
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Joe Morton |
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Glenn Plummer |
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Alan Ruck |
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