# Jan de Bont

Jan de Bont (Dutch:; 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 the sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control, which was a commercial and critical 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.
In 1997, de Bont was originally attached to direct the film Minority Report, which Steven Spielberg would end up directing instead.
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 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 Point Break sequel Indo, the live action Mulan, which would have starred Zhang Ziyi, as well as a proposed remake of 1961's 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

| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
| 1994 | Speed | Yes | No | No | Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Director |
| 1996 | Twister | Yes | No | No | |
| 1997 | Speed 2: Cruise Control | Yes | Yes | Story | Nominated- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture Nominated- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director Nominated- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay |
| 1998 | SLC Punk! | No | Executive | No | |
| 1999 | The Haunting | Yes | Executive | No | Nominated: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director |
| 2002 | Equilibrium | No | Yes | No | |
| 2002 | Minority Report | No | Yes | No | |
| 2003 | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life | Yes | No | No | |
| 2003 | Thoughtcrimes | No | Executive | No | Television film |
| 2012 | The Paperboy | No | Executive | No | |
As cinematographer
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1971 | Blue Movie | Wim Verstappen | With Werner Leckebusch |
| 1971 | Business Is Business | Paul Verhoeven | |
| 1973 | Turkish Delight | Paul Verhoeven | |
| 1975 | Keetje Tippel | Paul Verhoeven | |
| 1976 | Max Havelaar | Fons Rademakers |
| 1981 | Private Lessons | Alan Myerson | |
| 1981 | Roar | Noel Marshall | Also Supervising Editor |
| 1982 | I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can | Jack Hofsiss | |
| 1982 | Night Warning | William Asher | Uncredited |
| 1983 | Cujo | Lewis Teague | |
| 1983 | The Fourth Man | Paul Verhoeven | |
| 1983 | All the Right Moves | Michael Chapman | |
| 1984 | Bad Manners | Robert Houston | alternatively titled Growing Pains |
| 1984 | American Dreamer | Rick Rosenthal | With Giuseppe Rotunno |
| 1985 | Flesh & Blood | Paul Verhoeven | |
| 1985 | The Jewel of the Nile | Lewis Teague | |
| 1986 | Ruthless People | Jim Abrahams David Zucker Jerry Zucker | |
| 1986 | The Clan of the Cave Bear | Michael Chapman | |
| 1987 | Who's That Girl | James Foley | |
| 1987 | Leonard Part 6 | Paul Weiland | |
| 1988 | Die Hard | John McTiernan | |
| 1989 | Black Rain | Ridley Scott | |
| 1989 | Bert Rigby, You're a Fool | Carl Reiner | |
| 1990 | The Hunt for Red October | John McTiernan | |
| 1990 | Flatliners | Joel Schumacher | |
| 1992 | Lethal Weapon 3 | Richard Donner | |
| 1992 | Basic Instinct | Paul Verhoeven | |
| 1992 | Shining Through | David Seltzer | |
| 1997 | Beyond Words | Louis van Gasteren | Filmed in 1967 |
| 2012 | Nema aviona za Zagreb | Louis van Gasteren | Filmed during the 1960s. |