Wolfgang Petersen, The NeverEnding Story and Enemy Mine Director, Dies at 81

Famed film director Wolfgang Petersen, director of The NeverEnding Story and Enemy Mine, has died at the age of 81 from pancreatic cancer. Deadline reports Petersen passed away peacefully in the arms of his wife, Maria Antoinette, at their Brentwood residence on Friday, August 12th. Born on March 14, 1941, his movie career began in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s with short films and TV movies before he caught the eyes of Hollywood with his Academy Award-nominated Das Boot (The Boat). 1982’s Das Boot was nominated for six Emmys, with Petersen nominated for adapted screenplay and directing. The film was also nominated for a BAFTA Award and DGA Award.

Jürgen Prochnow’s portrayal as the U-boat captain became an example of the type of leading action characters audiences would find in Petersen-led productions. The director and actor first met during Petersen’s time producing a German TV show called Tatort (Crime Scene). Along with 1984’s The NeverEnding Story and 1985’s Enemy Mine, his impressive resume includes action films such as 1993’s In The Line of Fire, 1995’s Outbreak, 1997’s Air Force One, 2000’s The Perfect Storm, 2004’s Troy, and 2006’s Poseidon.

Fans of Harry Potter will be interested to know that Wolfgang Petersen was slated to direct the first movie in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. However, Petersen ended up withdrawing his name. Chris Columbus would later take on the directorial reins.

Petersen looked back on his Hollywood career with the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), where he spoke about what he was most proud of and what he was most embarrassed or disappointed by.

“I am very proud of The Perfect Storm. That was a concept that was very difficult to get through the studio system because it was very expensive,” Petersen said. “It was the biggest storm ever shown. And the story – I mean six guys on the Andrea Gail boat, who, at the end, as we all know, die.

“We got a lot of calls from people who said, ‘Wolfgang, don’t be crazy. This can’t work. This is a summer movie, a $150 million movie. And they all die at the end? Are you nuts? Can you at least have one, like Mark Wahlberg, survive at the end?’ But we did it. Terry Semel [then chairman of Warner Bros.] said, ‘Don’t change a thing, Wolfgang.’”

As for the film he most regretted, he named Poseidon. “What I probably should not have done is the film Poseidon. I was on a roll at that time. In the Line of Fire, Outbreak, Air Force One, Perfect Storm, Troy – I did all these films in a row, and each one was more successful than the one before. Five in a row. So they said, ‘Wolfgang can do anything. Just give him all the money, we’ll be fine.’ But it wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it, because it just doesn’t work like that. At some point you fail.”

Surviving Petersen is his wife of 50 years, Maria Antoinette, his son Daniel, and two grandchildren.

Photo credit via Isa Foltin/WireImage via Getty