The Oscar-nominated writer-director was known for films such as Das Boot, Air Force One and In the Line of Fire. He died of pancreatic cancer at home with his wife, Maria Borgel Petersen. His death was confirmed by his representative. After directing the thriller One of the Other of Us and the queer drama Die Konsequenz, Petersen broke out with 1982’s Das Boot, a World War II drama about a German submarine. It was both a critical and commercial success and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Petersen. “So many directors have their one movie,” he said in a later interview. “It’s the one that changed everything for you and the one they’ll talk about forever. I’m lucky enough to have this movie.” It led to Petersen’s first English-language film, the fantasy adventure The NeverEnding Story, which was an international hit and began a string of Hollywood successes for Petersen. Wolfgang Petersen and Clint Eastwood. Photo: United Archives GmbH/Alamy He worked with Clint Eastwood on the murder thriller In the Line of Fire, which was nominated for three Oscars, before working with Dustin Hoffman in the 1995 disaster thriller Outbreak and Harrison Ford in 1997’s Air Force One. The following years saw him direct the event-based adventure The Perfect Storm, the Trojan War epic and the disaster remake Poseidon. The latter was a critical and commercial failure. “What I probably shouldn’t have done is the Poseidon movie,” he said in an interview in 2016. “I was on a roll at the time … I shouldn’t have done it, because it just doesn’t work that way. At some point you fail.” He then decided to take a 10-year hiatus before returning in 2016 with the German comedy Vier gegen die Bank. Doctor Sleep and Midnight Mass director Mike Flanagan paid tribute on Twitter. “Very sad to hear that Wolfgang Petersen has passed away.” he wrote on Twitter. “I love DAS BOOT, IN THE LINE OF FIRE, THE PERFECT STORM, OUTBREAK… and I will always have a very special place in my heart for THE NEVERENDING STORY. Rest in Peace.”
