Wolfgang Petersen Highlights

  • 2006: Helmed the remake of the "The Poseidon Adventure" which centers on a passenger ship that is capsized by a tidal wave
  • 2004: Helmed the epic "Troy," starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom
  • 2001: Served as one of the executive producers of the CBS fall drama "The Agency"
  • 2000: Formed Red Cliff Prods.
  • 2000: Helmed the film adaptation of the nonfiction best-seller "The Perfect Storm"; seventh producing collaboration with Katz
  • 1999: Executive produced Jon Turteltaub's "Instinct" and produced Chris Columbus' "Bicentennial Man"
  • 1997: Had huge box-office success with the summer thriller "Air Force One"; served as one of the film's producers (as did Katz) and also directed; picture reunited him with Prochnow; second film with Ballhaus
  • 1997: Executive produced Jon Avnet's "Red Corner"
  • 1997: Supervised the director's cut of "Das Boot", re-released theatrically to enormous acclaim; enhancement included redesigned and re-recorded sound bringing it up to digital standards of the day, as well as a restored negative, reprinted onto the improved color-rich film stock available
  • 1995: Directed "Outbreak", a thriller about a deadly virus running amok; despite the Ebola hysteria of that year, the picture stumbled at the box office compared with "In the Line of Fire", though it did more than make back its money; with Katz served as one of film's producers; first collaboration with German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus
  • 1993: Enjoyed hit with American debut as an executive producer, "In the Line of Fire", starring Clint Eastwood; also directed; first film made with the full cooperation of the Secret Service
  • 1991: Directed, wrote and produced the stylish thriller "Shattered", adapted from Richard Neely's novel "The Plastic Warriors"; first association with producing partner Gail Katz (who co-produced); had planned to film this story prior to "Das Boot"
  • 1987: Moved to California
  • 1985: American directorial debut, "Enemy Mine" (also filmed at Bavarian Studios)
  • 1984: Helmed and co-scripted "The Neverending Story", a partly American-financed project filmed in Munich's Bavarian Studios; first English-language film
  • 1981: Won international acclaim with "Das Boot", at the time the most expensive German film ever made (about $12 million); received Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nominations, giving him the distinction of being the first director of a German film to receive a directing nod; scripted from the haunting memoirs of war correspondent Lothar-Gunther Buchheim; simultaneously created a five-hour epic for German TV
  • 1978: Helmed "Black and White Like Night and Days", a thriller set in the world of championship chess starring Bruno Ganz
  • 1977: First feature as a screenwriter (also director), "The Consequence", a controversial homosexual love story starring Prochnow; banned in parts of Germany
  • 1973: Feature directorial debut, "Einer von uns Beiden/One or the Other", the story of a student who blackmails one of his professors; won the German National Film Prize as Best New Director; Prochnow acted in picture, re-released in 1979 and picked up by Lufthansa airlines to show on its cross-Atlantic flights
  • 1971: Directed six episodes of German series "Tatort/Crime Scene"; first met and worked with actor Jurgen Prochnow on this series
  • 1970: German TV directorial debut, "I Will Kill You, Wolf"
  • 1961: Directed first play
  • Began career as assistant director at Ernst Deutsch Theater, Hamburg; also acted
  • Worked on a project with Kathleen Turner that dissolved when the actress became pregnant
  • Returned to TV as executive producer of two-part, $12 million adaptation of "The Ring", based on Wagner's "Das Niebelungenlied"

Find Session Times

By Movie Title

Latest Galleries

Latest Galleries »

Top 5 Movies

Show Top 10 Movies ยป

Latest Trailer

View All Trailers »