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John Andrew Davis (born April 7, 1953) is an American film producer and founder of Davis Entertainment.

Biography

Davis was born and raised near Denver, Co., and is the son of former 20th Century Fox owner Marvin Davis^[1]. His obsession with film began as a youth when his father purchased the neighborhood movie theater, where he sold popcorn and subsequently viewed up to 300 films a year. Davis graduated from Bowdoin College, attended Amherst College and received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. In 2005, he was acknowledged by the Hollywood Reporter as the industry's most prolific and successful producer.

Career

Davis has produced an impressive slate of hit motion pictures in all genres, but with notable successes in two of the most profitable film genres – action-adventure, and family films.

Davis’s family films include Norbit, starring Eddie Murphy (in their fourth film together) for DreamWorks/Paramount; Garfield and Garfield 2, both for Fox; the $100 million-plus hit Eddie Murphy comedy Daddy Day Care, produced with Revolution Studios; the two hugely successful Dr. Dolittle films, starring Eddie Murphy; the Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau trilogy Out to Sea, Grumpy Old Men, and Grumpier Old Men; and Fat Albert, written by Bill Cosby, among many others.

Some of Davis’s action-adventure titles include the sci-fi thriller I, Robot starring Will Smith; the blockbuster The Firm, starring Tom Cruise; Courage Under Fire, starring Denzel Washington; Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner; Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; Behind Enemy Lines, starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman; Predator 2; the John Woo action film, Paycheck, starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman, for Paramount; Alien vs. Predator, an action thriller combining the two classic creatures, and its sequel AVP2, for Fox, among many others.

Other Davis productions include When a Stranger Calls, a remake of the 1979 horror classic, for Screen Gems, which opened in the top spot its opening week; Life or Something Like It, starring Angelina Jolie; and the MGM film Heartbreakers, starring Sigourney Weaver, Gene Hackman and Jennifer Love Hewitt, which also opened as the #1 film in the country. Most recently he produced The Express, a real-life sports action drama, starring Dennis Quaid for Universal about college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African American Heisman Trophy winner.

Davis is currently in production in London on his next feature for 20th Century Fox, Gulliver’s Travels. Directed by Rob Letterman, it stars Jason Segel, Emily Blunt and Jack Black and tells the story of travel writer Lemuel Gulliver who takes an assignment in Bermuda but ends up on the island of Lilliput where he towers over the tiny citizens.

A hallmark of Davis’ success is his ability to attract the industry’s most successful actors, directors, writers and other creative talent time and again to his productions. He has produced a quartet of successful films and their sequels, including the Predator, Grumpy Old Men, Dr. Dolittle, and Garfield films, which have grown into successful, multi-title franchises, making Davis well-known for his ability to brand entertainment, extending his titles beyond their theatrical applications. Davis has honed this ability due in part to his business background and savvy approach to filmmaking, which has made him an industry leader in producing box-office hits.

Davis’ career is further conspicuous as his films are routinely produced for responsible budgets and thus earn domestic and international box office success. The original “Garfield,” for example, was produced for $42 million and earned nearly $200 million worldwide.

Davis too has proven to have a canny knack for securing the rights to projects long but unsuccessfully sought after by others, including the Garfield films, Fat Albert, The Simms, Marmaduke, the rights to the Ringling Bros circus story, Dr. Dolittle, Flight of the Phoenix, the two Grisham novels The Firm and The Chamber, and for television the life stories of Jesse Ventura and Little Richard, among others.

Davis also continues to produce DVD premiere titles born out of his successful Garfield and Dr. Dolittle franchises as well as numerous other titles. Dr. Dolittle Goin’ to Hollywood and Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief were both released by Fox Home Entertainment in 2008. Garfield Gets Real was followed by the 2008 release of Garfield Fun Fest both also for Fox Home Entertainment.

For television, Davis Entertainment Television produced the NBC made-for-television movies “The Jesse Ventura Story” and “Little Richard,” as well as the ABC made-for-television movie “Miracle at Midnight,” starring Sam Waterston. His television department has series and made-for-television movies set up with all of the major television networks and cable broadcasters.

For television and cable, Davis produced “Asteroid,” the NBC mini-series that received the highest ratings for a mini-series, telefilm or feature film presentation on television during the 1996-1997 season. Davis Entertainment also produced “Volcano: Fire on the Mountain,” for ABC; the highly-rated NBC movie of Truman Capote’s “One Christmas,” starring Katharine Hepburn; and the popular CBS movie “This Can’t Be Love,” starring Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Quinn.

Davis’ other television and cable credits include “Tears and Laughter,” “The Last Outlaw,” “Silhouette,” “Voyage,” “Irresistible Force,” “Wild Card,” “Dangerous Passion,” “Curiosity Kills,” and “Caught in the Act.” Davis Entertainment Television is currently developing numerous series and event movies for network and cable outlets.

Other projects

Davis is further unique as he is also successful in unrelated businesses. Unlike other filmmakers who first entered the entertainment business following their success in businesses, Davis did it the other way around, first staking his claim as a successful producer then honing his business acumen in the retail, food, technology and investment industries. Among his outside business interests are ownership stakes, through his Stone Canyon Ventures, in Jane Cosmetics; Red Mango, a frozen yogurt chain; television stations in Wisconsin and West Virginia; and Catalina Precision Products, which manufactures auto parts. In 2007, Davis and a group of investors sold their ownership stakes in the highly successful Wetzel’s Pretzels Company, which Davis helped grow.

Producer filmography

All films, he was producer unless otherwise noted.

References

External links

• John Davis at the Internet Movie Database