John Davis (producer)

Background

Davis was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, the son of Barbara Davis (née Levine), a philanthropist, and former 20th Century Fox owner Marvin Davis (1925–2004). His interest in cinema began as a youth when his father purchased the neighborhood film 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.

Career

John Davis, Chairman of Los Angeles-based Davis Entertainment, has been a producer on more than 100 feature films and movies for television that have earned more than $5 billion worldwide.

Davis Entertainment produces projects for all studios, mini-majors, and several broadcast networks.

Davis Entertainment's upcoming films include a reimagining of the Predator series by filmmaker Shane Black; Game Night, a New Line comedy starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams; Jungle Cruise at Disney starring Dwayne Johnson; the Paramount drama Ness, with Paul Greengrass attached to direct; a reboot of Shaft, directed by Tim Story and which includes the return of both Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree; and Ferdinand directed by Carlos Saldanha and coming out Christmas of 2017.

Some of Davis’s many feature film productions includes the 5 time Oscar nominated director David O. Russell's biographical comedy-drama Joy (2015), starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Bradley Cooper, for 20th Century Fox; a big screen version of the 1960s TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, for Warner Bros.,; Victor Frankenstein, a re-imagining of the horror classic Frankenstein, starring Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy for Fox.; the $100 million-plus micro-budgeted Chronicle; the sci-fi thriller I, Robot, starring Will Smith; the Jim Carrey starrer Mr. Popper's Penguins; Norbit, the comedy starring Eddie Murphy for DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures; the blockbuster The Firm, starring Tom Cruise; the two Dr. Dolittle films, starring Eddie Murphy; the Garfield franchise series for Fox; Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner; the Eddie Murphy comedy Daddy Day Care; Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; the Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau trilogy Out to Sea, Grumpy Old Men, and Grumpier Old Men; Behind Enemy Lines, starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman; Predator 2, John Woo's Paycheck, starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman, for Paramount Pictures; and Alien vs. Predator, an action thriller combining the two iconic cinematic aliens, among many others.

New television projects include Alex, Inc., an ABC comedy starring Zach Braff and Michael Imperioli set to debut this upcoming television season.

For past television, Davis Entertainment developed and executive produced the NBC hour long drama The Blacklist, a Sony Television production, as well as NBC's action drama Timeless and ABC's hit comedy Dr. Ken starring Ken Jeong.

Other projects

Davis’ successful business ventures include the fastest growing restaurant company in America, Blaze Pizza. Davis’s newest restaurant venture is Bacoshop, a fast casual concept, which opened up in March in Culver City, California. He’s partnered in this venture with acclaimed Los Angeles chef Josef Centeno. Davis has been previously involved and on the board of Wetzel's Pretzels. For 25 years, he owned and operated various network TV stations.

Personal life

Davis has three children: Jack, Catherine and Jensen, as mentioned in the Garfield: The Movie DVD commentary. Davis's three children said that the CG version of Garfield looked "evil" when they first saw him.

Filmography

All films, he was producer unless otherwise noted.