John Landis Net Worth

John Landis's Quotes

• The [movie industry] ratings board reflect[s] the morals of the times. So now, with Reagan as president, it's all right to shred children, but bare breasts are pretty disgusting. The morality of the times is deeply sick.
• When National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) turned out the way it did, they all rushed to me with barrels of money begging me to make them rich.
• I've done every job there is to do on a movie set except makeup. Wait a minute, I've done makeup. I've done every job there is to do on a movie set except hairdressing.
• [commenting on visiting Paramount for the first time in years] I felt like Norma Dermond.
• I live with the Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) every day of my life.

Interesting Facts about John Landis

1. The trademark trivia often mentioned in Landis-directed films, the inclusion in some form of the phrase "See you next Wednesday", is a reference to a script young Landis wrote at 15 (which in itself was named after a line in the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)). Whenever Landis uses an idea from it in a film he's made, he always "credits" the script. The reference appears during the werewolf rampage as the title on the marquee of a porno theater in An American Werewolf in London (1981). It is spoken in German when Vic Morrow is being shot at on the building in the sequence he directed for Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). In The Blues Brothers (1980) it's on a billboard where the the cops are lying in wait. Then again, it mostly appears as the name on movie posters, so that it probably became merely something to watch for like Alfred Hitchcock's cameos. It first appeared in his first film Schlock (1973) as the name of a movie and as a movie poster in a theater lobby. It appeared again in his second film. The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), as the title of the "Feel-O-Rama" movie. It surfaces in an apartment in Trading Places (1983) on a movie poster. In Coming to America (1988) it appears in a subway station (the movie claims to star Jamie Lee Curtis, who appeared in "Trading Places"). Another poster is visible in Ophelia's apartment. In Spies Like Us (1985) it appears on the recruitment poster behind the desk of the commander of the army training post. In Into the Night (1985) it appears on two posters in the office where Ed and Diana make the phone call. In Innocent Blood (1992) it is once again advertised on a movie marquee across the street from the Melody Lounge exotic dance bar near where a car crash takes place. It also appears in the Michael Jackson video Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983), which was directed by Landis. One of the men chasing the werewolf finds a note and reads this out while the shot shows MJ in the theater eating popcorn.
2. In his early career he worked as a stunt-man specialising in horse-falls.
3. He directed the music videos Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983) and Michael Jackson: Black or White (1991), both by Michael Jackson. He has a small cameo as the director in "Black Or White".
4. Father of Max Landis and Rachel Landis.
5. After he dropped out of school at age 17 he worked as mailman at the Fox studios.
6. Went to school with Eliza Roberts.
7. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 555-559. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
8. Has never shot a film in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio until 2010's Burke and Hare (2010).
9. Once worked as an attendant in a parking lot.
10. One of his favorite movies is The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). He admits that this film inspired the use of the dream within a dream gag in An American Werewolf in London (1981).
11. Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1989.
12. Close friend, George Lucas, offered John Landis the role of director on Howard: A New Breed of Hero (1986). After reading the script Landis turned down the opportunity due to the police car crashes in the finale. He felt this was too similar to that of his previous film The Blues Brothers (1980).
13. Five of his movies were nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs: The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980), An American Werewolf in London (1981) and Trading Places (1983). "Animal House" made the list at #36.
14. On 12 April 2011, when he was introducing his new film Burke and Hare (2010) at The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), he was knighted. He is now a "Knight of the Order of the Raven". It's one of the festival's highest honors given only to masters of the genre.
15. Says the scariest horror film for him is a "toss-up between" Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973). [NYTimes, 8/21/11].
16. During the filming of The Blues Brothers (1980) John Belushi's drug use was at its height. On a day of filming Belushi didn't want to come out of his trailer. John Landis, who was fed up with Belushi and his antics, reportedly forced his way in to Belushi's trailer, grabbed all of Belushi's drug stash and flushed it down the toilet. Landis told him he wasn't going to be putting up with this anymore.
17. The Ruling Class (1972) is one of his favorite movies.
18. Had an allergic reaction to shrimp on the set of Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983).
19. In a BBC Radio interview, he stated that he is an atheist.
20. Eddie Murphy asked him to direct The Nutty Professor (1996), but he declined.