Early Landis began his film career working as a mailboy at
20th Century-Fox. He worked as a "go-fer" and then as an assistant director during filming
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''
Kelly's Heroes'' in
Yugoslavia in 1969; he replaced the film's original assistant director, who became ill and was sent home. During that time, Landis became acquainted with actors
Don Rickles and
Donald Sutherland, both of whom later worked in his films. Following ''Kelly's Heroes
, Landis worked on several films that were shot in Europe (especially in Italy and the United Kingdom), including Once Upon a Time in the West, El Condor, and A Town Called Bastard (or A Town Called Hell''). Landis was hired by
Eon Productions to write a screen treatment for
The Spy Who Loved Me, but his screenplay of
James Bond foiling a kidnapping of the
Pope in Latin America was rejected by
Albert R. Broccoli for satirizing the
Catholic Church. Landis was then hired to direct
The Kentucky Fried Movie after
David Zucker saw his
Tonight Show appearance. While
Animal House received mixed reviews, it was a massive financial success, earning over $120 million at the domestic box office, making it the highest-grossing comedy film of its time. Its success started the "gross-out" film genre, which became one of Hollywood's staples. It also featured the screen debuts of
John Belushi,
Karen Allen, and
Kevin Bacon. In 1980, Landis co-wrote and directed
The Blues Brothers, a comedy starring John Belushi and
Dan Aykroyd. It featured musical numbers by
rhythm and blues and
soul legends
James Brown,
Cab Calloway,
Aretha Franklin,
Ray Charles, and
John Lee Hooker. It was, at the time, one of the most expensive films ever made, costing almost $30 million (for comparison,
Steven Spielberg's contemporary film
1941 cost $35 million). Spielberg and Landis reportedly engaged in a rivalry, the goal of which was to make the more expensive film. In December, Morrow's daughters
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Carrie Morrow also sued Landis, Wingo,
Warner Bros. Studios, and others for negligence and wrongful death, resulting in Warner Bros. settling their case out of court, awarding $850,000 to each party. Following the accident, Spielberg ended his friendship with Landis. In October 1984, the
National Transportation Safety Board reported: The lawsuit finally proceeded in 1985. Landis insisted that the deaths of Morrow, Le, and Chen were the result of an accident. However, camera operators filming the scene testified to Landis being a very imperious director, and a "yeller and screamer" on set. During a take three hours before the incident, Wingo (a veteran of the
Vietnam War) told Landis that the fireballs were too large and too close to the helicopter, to which Landis responded, "You ain't seen nothing yet." With special effects explosions blasting around them, the helicopter descended over Morrow, Le, and Chen. Witnesses testified that Landis was still shouting for the helicopter to fly "Lower! Lower!" moments before it crashed. The prosecutors demonstrated that Landis was reckless and had not warned the parents, cast, or crew of the children and Morrow's proximity to explosives, or of limitations on their working hours. He admitted that he had violated California law regulating the employment of children by using the children after hours, and conceded that that was wrong, but still denied culpability. Deputy District Attorney Lea Purwin D'Agostino stated that Landis was acting "cool", "slippery", and "glib" during the trial, and that his testimony contained inconsistencies. Both Le's and Chen's parents later filed civil suits against Landis and other defendants and eventually settled out of court with the studio for $2 million per family. In 1988, Landis was reprimanded by the
Directors Guild of America for unprofessional conduct on the set of the film and the California Labor Commission fined him $5,000 for violating
child labor laws. In 1986, Landis directed
Three Amigos, which featured Chevy Chase,
Martin Short, and
Steve Martin. He then co-directed and produced the 1987 satirical comedy film
Amazon Women on the Moon, which parodies the experience of watching low-budget films on late-night television. Landis next directed the 1988 Eddie Murphy film
Coming to America, which was hugely successful, becoming the third-most-popular movie of 1988 at the U.S. box office. It was also the subject of
Buchwald v. Paramount, a civil suit filed by
Art Buchwald in 1990 against the film's producers. Buchwald claimed that the concept for the film had been stolen from a 1982 script that
Paramount optioned from Buchwald, and won the breach of contract action. In 1991, Landis directed
Sylvester Stallone in
Oscar, based on a stage play.
Oscar recreates a 1930s-era film, including the gestures along with bit acts and with some slapstick, as an homage to old Hollywood films. In 1992, Landis directed
Innocent Blood, a
horror-
crime film. In 1994, Landis directed Eddie Murphy in
Beverly Hills Cop III, their third collaboration following
Trading Places and
Coming to America. In 1996, he directed
The Stupids and then returned to Universal to direct
Blues Brothers 2000 in 1998 with
John Goodman, and for the fifth time in a Landis film, Dan Aykroyd, who also appeared in Landis' film ''
Susan's Plan'', released that same year. None of the above six films scored well with either critics or audiences.
Burke and Hare was released in 2010, as Landis' first theatrical release in 12 years. In August 2011, Landis said he would return to horror and would be writing a new film. He was the executive producer on the
comedy horror film
Some Guy Who Kills People.
Music videos Landis has directed several music videos. He was approached by
Michael Jackson to make a video for his song "
Thriller". In 1991, Landis collaborated again with Michael Jackson on the music video for the song "
Black or White".
Television Landis has been active in television as the executive producer (and often director) of the series
Dream On (1990),
Weird Science (1994),
Sliders (1995),
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1997),
Campus Cops (1995),
The Lost World (1998),
Masters of Horror, and various episodes of
Psych. He also made commercials for
DirecTV,
Taco Bell,
Coca-Cola,
Pepsi,
Kellogg's, and
Disney. In 2011 he made an appearance in
Reece Shearsmith and
Steve Pemberton's television series
Psychoville. In June 2020, Landis signed on to direct and executive produce the streaming series
Superhero Kindergarten.
Documentaries Landis made his first documentary,
Coming Soon, in 1982; it was only released on VHS. In 1983, he worked on the 45-minute documentary ''Making Michael Jackson's Thriller
, which aired on MTV and Showtime and was simultaneously released on home video, which became the biggest selling home video release of the time. Next, he co-directed B.B. King "Into the Night" (1985) and in 2002 directed Where Are They Now?: A Delta Alumni Update, which can be seen as a part of the Animal House
DVD extras. Initially, his documentaries were only made to promote his feature films. Later in his career he became more serious about the oeuvre and made Slasher (2004), Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (2007) and Starz Inside: Ladies or Gentlemen
(2009) for television. Landis won a 2008 Emmy Award for Mr. Warmth
. In 2023, he appeared in the Spanish documentary The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry
, which covered the career of Spanish movie director Paul Naschy. Landis was friends with Christopher Lee and he appeared in the documentary The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee'' (2024). ==Archives==