Famed German filmmaker turned Hollywood blockbuster director Wolfgang Petersen died at the age of 81. Petersen reportedly passed away peacefully at his Brentwood residence from pancreatic cancer in the arms of his wife of 50 years – Maria Antoinette. Petersen broke out in 1981 with his multiple Oscar-nominated WW2 submarine movie “Das Boot”. Its success led to him taking the helm of a 1980s childhood fantasy staple with “The Neverending Story”. Though two box-office failures with sci-fi feature “Enemy Mine” and psychothriller “Shattered” followed, Petersen surged back in the early-mid 1990s with a string of successful box-office hits over the next decade and a bit that are still regularly watched to this day. These include the critically acclaimed Clint Eastwood-led “In the Line of Fire,” the killer virus thriller “Outbreak,” the Harrison Ford as the U.S. President action thriller “Air Force One,” the George Clooney & Mark Wahlberg-led fishing survival drama “The Perfect Storm,” the Brad Pitt-led lavish adaptation of Homer’s The Illiad with “Troy,” and the 70s disaster thriller remake “Poseidon”. Petersen gave up Hollywood after that, he was briefly attached but ended up passing on the film adaptation of “Ender’s Game” which Gavin Hood ultimately directed. Petersen’s sole directorial credit of the past fifteen years is 2016’s German crime comedy “Vier gegen die Bank”. In addition to his wife, Petersen is survived by his son, Daniel, and two grandchildren. Source: Variety https://www.darkhorizons.com/r-i-p-wolfgang-petersen/
