Jan de Bont

Jan de Bont (; born 22 October 1943) is a Dutch cinematographer, director and film producer. He is widely known for directing the films Speed and Twister. As a director of photography, de Bont worked on numerous blockbusters and genre films, including Cujo, Flesh and Blood, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, and Basic Instinct.
==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 came known in the Netherlands as the cinematographer for the infamous 1971 film Blue Movie, followed by the 1973 film Turkish Delight, directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Rutger Hauer and Monique van de Ven. Since the early 1980s, he 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, where a lion lifted his scalp, requiring 220 stitches. After Roar, de Bont shot the 1983 horror film Cujo, the adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. In 1988, he was director of photography on the critically lauded 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 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 a remake of The Haunting. It was a commercial success, but was heavily panned by critics and received five Razzie Award nominations. His most recent film as director 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.
===Unrealized 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. He was eventually replaced by Roland Emmerich who rewrote the script in addition to directing the film. While critically panned, Emmerich's "Godzilla" was moderately successful.
==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.
==Filmography==
Year	Film 	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
1994	Speed 	 	 	 	Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Director
1996	Twister 	 	 	 	
1997	Speed 2: Cruise Control 	 	 	 	Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst PictureNominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst DirectorNominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay
1998	SLC Punk! 	 	 	 	
1999	The Haunting 	 	 	 	Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director
2002	Equilibrium 	 	 	 	
2002	Minority Report 	 	 	 	
2003	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life	 	 	 	
===As Cinematographer===
Year	Film 	Notes
1971	Blue Movie 	
1971	Business Is Business 	
1973	Turkish Delight 	
1975	Keetje Tippel 	
1981	Private Lessons 	
1981	Roar 	
1982	I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can	
1982	Night Warning 	Uncredited
1983	Cujo 	
1983	The Fourth Man 	
1983	All the Right Moves 	
1984	Bad Manners 	alternatively titled Growing Pains
1985	Flesh & Blood 	
1985	The Jewel of the Nile 	
1986	Ruthless People 	
1986	The Clan of the Cave Bear 	
1987	Who's That Girl? 	
1987	Leonard Part 6 	
1988	Die Hard 	
1989	Black Rain 	
1989	Bert Rigby, You're a Fool 	
1990	The Hunt for Red October 	
1990	Flatliners 	
1992	Lethal Weapon 3 	
1992	Basic Instinct 	
1992	Shining Through 	
1997	Beyond Words 	Filmed in 1967
2012	Nema aviona za Zagreb 	Filmed during the 1960's.
==See also==
* 1997 Golden Raspberry Awards
Category:1943 births
Category:Dutch Roman Catholics
Category:Dutch cinematographers
Category:Dutch film directors
Category:Dutch emigrants to the United States
Category:People from Eindhoven
Category:Living people
Category:English-language film directors
Category:American Society of Cinematographers members