Wolfgang Petersen, the German director whose Oscar-nominated submarine film “Das Boot” propelled him to directing Hollywood projects such as Brad Pitt in “Troy,” George Clooney in “The Perfect Storm” and Harrison Ford in “Air Force One,” you have died He was 81.
Petersen’s representative Michelle Bega told USA TODAY the director died Friday at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Born in Emden, Germany, Petersen’s searing portrayal of a WWII German U-boat in 1981’s “Das Boot” (“The Boat”) earned six Oscar nominations, with two nominations for Petersen: best director and best adapted screenplay.
The anti-war film also caught Hollywood’s attention.
Brad Pitt talks ‘Troy’ stunt on ATV:“We got trouble for that.”
Petersen went on to direct Clint Eastwood as a secret service agent in the 1993 thriller “In the Line of Fire” and Dustin Hoffman in the 1995 global pandemic virus thriller “Outbreak.”
Ford portrayed President James Marshall, whose plane is hijacked by terrorists in Peterson’s 1997 thriller “Air Force One,” one of the most popular action films of the 1990s.
Glenn Close, who played Vice President Kathryn Bennett, recalls that even though the action set was intense, Petersen brought levity, especially filming a scene at a huge table in the War Room.
“Wolfgang set a remote controlled camera that could rotate in place, seamlessly covering all of us, one after another,” Close told USA TODAY in a statement. “You knew the camera would pause on you by his hilarious direction while setting up the shot. He would point to us in turn and say, ‘Acting… acting… NO acting… NO acting… ACTING. .. aaaacting!’ He didn’t waste anyone’s time. My memory is of a man full of joie de vivre who was doing what he most loved to do.
In 2000, Petersen helmed the box office hit “The Perfect Storm,” the tale of doomed Gloucester fishermen starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
In 2004, Petersen directed “Troy,” a Hollywood version of Homer’s epic, showing a bulked-up Brad Pitt as the hero Achilles, Eric Bana as Hector, Orlando Bloom as Paris and “Succession” star Brian Cox as Agamemnon.
Petersen was surprised before filming to see Pitt, who was set to play the Greek warrior hero who leads the fight against Troy. Pitt had long dark hair, a beard and had lost weight for another role.
“I was shocked when I saw him,” Petersen told Vanity Fair in 2019. “I said, ‘Jesus Christ, that’s not how Achilles looks.’ “
Over beers at a German restaurant, Pitt promised Petersen that he would look like the Hollywood version of Achilles. The star followed through, pulling off his largest, physical transformation of him as Achilles. As Pitt told USA TODAY this year. “I worked my (butt) off for that role.”
With a budget of nearly $185 million, “Troy” was one of the most expensive movies produced at the time. Though critically maligned, it became one of the highest-grossing films of 2004, with a worldwide box office of nearly $500 million.
Petersen is survived by second wife Maria-Antoinette Borgel, a German script supervisor and assistant director he wed in 1978, they are Daniel Petersen and two grandchildren.
Contributing: Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
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