Wolfgang Petersen: The Acclaimed Director of Das Boot Died

NEW YORK (AP) — Wolfgang Petersen, the German director who launched a successful Hollywood career with the blockbuster movies “In the Line of Fire,” “Air Force One,” and “The Perfect Storm,” has passed away. “Das Boot,” a World War II submarine epic, was Wolfgang Petersen’s first film. He was 81.

Wolfgang Petersen, the acclaimed director of “Das Boot,” passes away

Michelle Bega:

After a struggle with pancreatic cancer, Petersen passed away on Friday. At his home in the Brentwood district of Los Angeles, according to spokesperson Michelle Bega.

PETERSON PRODUCED TWO MOVIES DURING ATLANTIC BATTLE:

Before his 1982 breakthrough, “Das Boot,” at the time the most expensive film in German history. Petersen, who was born in the harbor city of Emden in northern Germany, produced two movies. Jürgen Prochnow played the submarine’s commander in the 149-minute film (the original version was 210 minutes). Which detailed the severe claustrophobia of life on a doomed German U-boat during the Battle of the Atlantic.

DAS BOOT:

“Das Boot,” hailed as a masterpiece against war, received six Oscar nominations,. Including one for Petersen’s direction and his production of Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s best-selling 1973 book.

BEGINNING OF HIS FILM CARRIER:

Petersen, who was born in 1941, remember as a youngster running along to American ships as they dropping supplies. Petersen, who began in theatre before enrolling in Berlin’s Film and Television Academy in the late 1960s. Gravitated for Hollywood movies with obvious clashes of good and evil in the uncertainty of postwar Germany. John Ford had a significant impact.

WOLFGANG PETERSEN TOLD THE LOS ANGELES ABOUT THE HITLER TIME:

In 1993, Petersen told The Los Angeles Times, “In school they never spoke about the time of Hitler — they just pushed it out of their thoughts and concentrated on reconstructing Germany.” We youngsters, however, had more glitzy aspirations than rebuilding a devastated nation. So we were completely preparing when American popular culture arrived in Germany. We all adored American cinema, and by the time I was 11 I knew I wanted to work in the industry.

WOLFGANG PETERSEN START HER CARRIER WITH “DAS BOOT”:

In Hollywood, “Das Boot” gave Petersen his big break, and he went on to become one of the best directors of catastrophic action adventures in movies about war (2004’s “Troy,” starring Brad Pitt), pandemics (the 1995 ebolavirus-inspired “Outbreak”), and other ocean-based catastrophes (2000’s “The Perfect Storm” and 2006’s “Poseidon,” a remake of “The Poseidon Adventure,” about an ocean liner sinking).

However, Petersen’s debut in American cinema was a charming fantasy film for children, “The NeverEnding Story,” from 1984. The magical book in “The NeverEnding Story,” which was adapt from Michael Ende’s novel, carries its young reader into the world of Fantasia, where a malevolent force known as the Nothing is doing havoc.

Nearly ten years later, in 1993’s “In the Line of Fire,” which starring Clint Eastwood as a Secret Service agent defending the president of the US from John Malkovich’s assassin, was arguably Petersen’s best Hollywood production. Petersen used his considerable suspense-building talent to create a more open-air but equally tense thriller that raced across rooftops and past Washington, DC monuments.

When looking for a director for the movie, Eastwood considered Petersen, who he had previously spoken with at an Arnold Schwarzenegger-hosted dinner party. After meeting with Petersen and seeing his work, Eastwood hired him. Three Oscar nominations and a $177 million global take made “In the Line of Fire” a huge success.

You occasionally experience seven-year cycles. When you observe other filmmakers, you’ll see that they don’t always have major achievements. My career had been successful after successful up until ‘NeverEnding Story,'” Petersen told The Associated Press in 1993. “I then entered the turbulent international scene. I needed some time to gain a sense for this piece because it is no longer in Germany.

ACCUSATION TO WASHINTON:

Petersen saw the political thriller as a criticism of Washington since it portrayed the hero Eastwood as the weary but ardent defender of a less honorable president.

According to Petersen, the line “Nothing they telling me was real and there’s nothing left worth fighting for” spoken by John’s character would strike a chord with a lot of viewers. The film is deeply pessimistic about what has, regrettably, occurred to this nation over the past 30 years. Look about you; there is no reason to celebrate because corruption is pervasive.

“OUTBREAK”:

With Morgan Freeman, Rene Russo, and Dustin Hoffman in “Outbreak,” Petersen returned to the presidency in “Air Force One” from 1997. Harrison Ford playing a president who is compelling to confront terrorists who have hijacke Air Force One in the movie.

With $315 million in worldwide box office, “Air Force One” was also successful, but with “The Perfect Storm,” a true story about a Massachusetts fishing boat that went missing at sea, Petersen set his sights even higher. Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney were among the cast members, but the film’s major draw was a 100-feet computer-generating wave. “The Perfect Storm” generated $328.7 million in revenue against a $120 million budget.

MORE CASTS:

With $315 million in worldwide box office, “Air Force One” was also successful, but with “The Perfect Storm,” a true story about a Massachusetts fishing boat that went missing at sea, Petersen set his sights even higher. Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney were among the cast members, but the film’s major draw was a 100-foot computer-generating wave. “The Perfect Storm” generated $328.7 million in revenue against a $120 million budget.

HE FASCINATED BY THE OCEAN:

Wolfgang Petersen, who was on Germany’s northern coast. He has always been fascinated by the ocean. In a 2009 interview, Petersen commented, “The power of water is incredible.” When I was a child, I was always amaze at how powerful the water is and how much damage it might cause when it quickly turning and slamming into the coast.

Petersen’s “Troy,” a massive epic based on Homer’s Iliad, came after “The Perfect Storm.” Garnering fewer positive reviews but still earning close to $500 million globally. The high-profile “Poseidon,” a costly failure for Warner Bros., was Petersen’s final Hollywood production. His last movie was the 2016 German film “Four Against the Bank.” Which was a remake of Petersen’s original 1976 German TV movie.

MARITAL RECORD:

Ursula Sieg, an actress from Germany, was Petersen’s first wife. He wed Maria-Antoinette Borgel, a German script supervisor and assistant director, after their divorce in 1978. Borgel, Daniel Petersen, his son, and his two grandkids are his only heirs.

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