Jon Peters

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For the baseball pitcher, see Jon Peters (pitcher).
Not to be confused with John Peters (disambiguation).
Jon Peters
Born
John H. Peters

(1945-06-02) June 2, 1945 (age 74)
Van Nuys, California, U.S.
OccupationFilm producer
Years active1976–2018
Children3

John H. Peters (born June 2, 1945)[1] is an American film producer and former hairdresser.

Early life[edit]

Peters was born in Van Nuys, California[1] as the son of Helen (née Pagano), a receptionist and Jack Peters, a cook who owned a Hollywood diner.[2] He is of Cherokee (father) and Italian (mother) descent.[3] His mother's family owned a renowned salon on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Jack Peters died when Jon was 10 years old and Helen later remarried.[4]

Career[edit]

Prior to becoming a producer, Peters first joined the family hairdressing business at Rodeo Drive where he made many film industry connections. He designed a short wig that Barbra Streisand wore for the comedy For Pete's Sake (1974), as a result of which Peters and Streisand began a relationship. He later produced Streisand's studio album ButterFly (1974) and also gained a producing credit on Streisand's remake of A Star Is Born (1976), although the extent of his contribution has been disputed.[5] He also worked alongside Peter Guber for the next 10 years, with whom he headed Sony Pictures from 1989 until 1991.

Superman[edit]

In the early 1990s, Peters bought the film rights to the Superman franchise from Warner Bros. In his Q&A/comedy DVD An Evening With Kevin Smith, filmmaker Kevin Smith talked about working for Peters when he was hired to write a script for a new Superman film, which was then called Superman Reborn and later Superman Lives.[6] According to Smith, Peters had expressed disdain for most of Superman's iconic characteristics by demanding that Superman was never to fly[7] nor appear in his trademark costume.[7] He also suggested Sean Penn for the role based on his performance as a death row inmate in Dead Man Walking, which he said that Penn had the eyes of a "caged animal, a fucking killer." Peters then demanded that the third act of the film include a fight between Superman and a giant spider,[8] to be unveiled in an homage to King Kong. Peters later produced the 1999 steampunk western action comedy Wild Wild West, the finale of which featured a giant mechanical spider.[8]

Smith met Peters after completing a script, to which Peters instructed him to include a robot sidekick for Brainiac, a fight scene between Brainiac and two polar bears and a marketable "space dog" pet similar to the Star Wars character Chewbacca. Smith inserted them into his script, but then the project was abandoned and the script discarded.

In Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Peters admitted that the Superman franchise was problematic for him, stating: "The elements that I was focusing on were away from the heart, it was more leaning towards 'Star Wars' in a sense, you know. I didn't realize the human part of it, I didn't have that."

He subsequently produced Superman Returns, the 2006 Superman film directed by Bryan Singer, and executive-produced Man of Steel, the 2013 Superman film directed by Zack Snyder.[9] Peters was banned from the Man of Steel set by producer Christopher Nolan.[10]

The Sandman[edit]

Peters was a producer for a planned adaptation of the Sandman comics for Warner Bros., which met with controversy. One draft script commissioned by Peters was reviewed on the Internet at Ain't It Cool News,[11] and was met with scorn. Sandman creator Neil Gaiman called the last screenplay that Warner Bros. would send him "...not only the worst Sandman script I've ever seen, but quite easily the worst script I've ever read."[12] By 2001, the project had become stranded in development hell.

In a 2005 interview, Gaiman commented: "But Sandman movies, they just got increasingly appalling. It was really strange. They started out hiring some really good people and you got Elliott and Rossio and Roger Avary came in and did a draft. They were all solid scripts. And then Jon Peters fired all of them and got in some people who take orders, and who wanted fistfights and all this stuff. It had no sensibility and it was just...they were horrible."[13]

Proposed autobiography[edit]

Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood blog reported on a book proposal for the autobiography of Peters, written by himself and Los Angeles writer William Stadiem.[14] Peters reportedly intended to write about his life with Streisand and a string of other celebrity lovers. In 2009, he subsequently withdrew from the HarperCollins book deal after adverse publicity triggered by the leaking of the proposal and potential lawsuits.[15]

Harassment lawsuit and end of career[edit]

In August 2011, a Los Angeles jury ordered Peters to pay a former assistant $3.3 million after finding she was subjected to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment during production of Superman Returns.[16][17] Since 2009, Peters has only been credited for four projects: Two for executive producing and two for producing.

Personal life[edit]

Peter's four marriages ended in divorce. [18]

He had a high-profile personal and business relationship with Barbra Streisand in the mid-1970s and 1980s. [19]

Peters has three children: one son with second wife actress Lesley Ann Warren [20] and two daughters with third wife Christine Peters.[21] [22]Streisand is godmother to his daughter Caleigh Peters.[23] Son Christopher Peters is an actor and producer.[20][24][25]

Filmography[edit]

Year Film Notes
1976 A Star Is Born
1978 Eyes of Laura Mars
1979 The Main Event As executive producer
1980 Die Laughing
Caddyshack As executive producer
1981 An American Werewolf in London As executive producer
1982 Missing As executive producer
Six Weeks
1983 Flashdance
D.C. Cab As executive producer
1985 Vision Quest
The Legend of Billie Jean As executive producer
Clue As executive producer
The Color Purple As executive producer
Head Office As executive producer
1986 The Clan of the Cave Bear As executive producer
Youngblood As executive producer
Brotherhood of Justice As executive producer; made-for-television film
1987 The Witches of Eastwick
Innerspace As executive producer
Who's That Girl As executive producer
1988 Nightmare at Bittercreek As executive producer; made-for-television film
Caddyshack II
Gorillas in the Mist As executive producer
Missing Link As executive producer
Rain Man As executive producer
1989 Finish Line As executive producer; made-for-television film
Tango & Cash
Batman
1990 The Bonfire of the Vanities As executive producer
1992 Batman Returns As executive producer
1993 This Boy's Life As executive producer
1994 With Honors As executive producer
1995 Money Train
1996 My Fellow Americans
1997 Rosewood
1999 Wild Wild West
2001 Ali
2006 Superman Returns
2009 Celebration: The Video Collection producer - video "Crazy for You"
2013 Man of Steel As executive producer
2018 A Star Is Born

Further reading[edit]

  • Griffin, Nancy; Masters, Kim (1996). Hit & Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80931-1.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905–1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Searchable at http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461
  2. ^ "Jon Peters Biography (1945?-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  3. ^ Shah, Diane K. (October 22, 1989). "The Producers". The New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
  4. ^ "Jon Peters biography" Yahoo Movies
  5. ^ Barbra by Donald Zec and Anthony Fowles, chapter 17
  6. ^ Kevin Smith talks about Superman on YouTube
  7. ^ a b Rossen, Jake (2008). Superman Vs. Hollywood: How Fiendish Producers, Devious Directors, and Warring Writers Grounded an American Icon. Chicago Review Press. p. 217. ISBN 1-55652-731-4.
  8. ^ a b Cronin, Brian (2009). Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed. Penguin Group. p. 25. ISBN 0-452-29532-7.
  9. ^ Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" teaser trailer with Jon Peters credited on YouTube
  10. ^ ""I Am the Trump of Hollywood": The Reclusive and Outrageous Jon Peters Is Still Rich. Really Rich". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  11. ^ Moriarty takes a look at what Jon Peters has done with Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN property!!! – Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news
  12. ^ Comics2Film: Sandman Archived December 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Interview: Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon", Time, 2005
  14. ^ "IT SHOULD BE CALLED 'DICKHEAD': Why Jon Peters' Book Proposal Sets New Low", Deadline Hollywood
  15. ^ "PETERS PULLS PLUG ON TELL-ALL" Archived May 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Post, May 23, 2009
  16. ^ Film producer ordered to pay $3 million in sex case
  17. ^ Hollywood Docket: 'Superman' Producer Jon Peters Ordered To Pay $3.3 Mil in Sexual Harassment Trial
  18. ^ ""I Am the Trump of Hollywood": The Reclusive and Outrageous Jon Peters Is Still Rich. Really Rich". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  19. ^ Nast, Condé. "Jon Peters Is Scared to Tell "Love of My Life" Barbra Streisand He Voted for Trump". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  20. ^ a b Coleman, Jim (October 1995). "Eight men enter, one man leaves". Black Belt. pp. 54–59. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  21. ^ "The junior mint". Los Angeles Times. January 8, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  22. ^ "Producer Jon Peters' Family Shopping Reality Show (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  23. ^ "Barbra Streisand Archives | Vanity Fair 1994". barbra-archives.com. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  24. ^ "Christopher Peters". IMDb. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  25. ^ "Christopher Peters Entertainment". www.christopherpetersent.com. Retrieved September 30, 2019.

External links[edit]

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