Ilya Salkind was born in Mexico City, and grew up in the world of
motion pictures. At the age of one, Ilya was photographed sitting on
the lap of Zsa Zsa Gabor. His grandfather,
Michael Salkind, was one of the pioneers
of silent films and produced
Die freudlose Gasse (1925)
(aka "The Joyless Street"), featuring then relative unknown
Greta Garbo in her first major role.
Afterwards, Michael and his son,
Alexander Salkind, were responsible
for many successful films of artistic achievement, including
Orson Welles's
Der Prozeß (1962) (aka "The Trial").
Ilya then took the reins and became the third generation of successful
filmmakers. Ilya has worked in Paris, Rome, London, Madrid, New York
and Los Angeles. He speaks fluent French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
and English.
At a young age, Ilya started his career as a producer and has
accumulated a stunning filmography. Ilya produced, with his father and
grandfather, the tremendous worldwide box office hits
Die drei Musketiere (1973)
and
Die vier Musketiere (1974),
which was the first time in the industry a film and its sequel were
shot simultaneously. Ilya was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work
on
Die drei Musketiere (1973).
Ilya then went on to initiate the blockbuster "Superman" franchise, one
of the most successful in film history. The Academy Award-winning
Superman - Der Film (1978) also has the distinction
of being the first major Comic Book film adaptation ever made. Under
Ilya's supervision, this film and its first two sequels became
worldwide blockbusters.
Superman II: Allein gegen alle (1980) was awarded the
Best Science Fiction Film of the year by the Academy of Science
Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Ilya's venture into television,
Superboy (1988) (1988-1992), also
proved successful, lasting four seasons for a total of 100 episodes.
The show was recognized by the Young Artist Awards as one of the Best
Family Series on television. After producing the $50 million
Christopher Columbus - Der Entdecker (1992)
with Marlon Brando,
Benicio Del Toro, and
Catherine Zeta-Jones,
Georges Corraface, in the role of Christopher Columbus,
Ilya and wife
Jane Chaplin (daughter of
Charles Chaplin and granddaughter of
Eugene O'Neill) settled down in
Orlando, Florida and took a sabbatical to raise their two young sons.
The celebrity couple amicably parted ways at the end of 1999.
Ilya, now based in LA and having formed The Ilya Salkind Company, Inc.,
is completing the company's first film,
Born to be Great (2010),
recently shot in Egypt and Greece about the young Alexander the Great.
The film has already seemingly launched the careers of four of its
previously unknown stars. Sam Heughan
("Young Alexander") was signed by the prestigious agency ICM,
Paul Telfer ("Hephaestion") was
chosen from out of 200 candidates to play the title role in the $25
million miniseries "Hercules," Lauren Cohan
("Leto") is starring alongside Heath Ledger
in "Casanova" and Louis Tamone ("Thessaly")
is now a regular on the successful British television show Hollyoaks.
Ilya Salkind has a reputation for discovering new talent throughout his
career, including Christopher Reeve
(Superman), Helen Slater (Supergirl), and
Catherine Zeta-Jones and
Benicio Del Toro (Christopher Columbus:
The Discovery starring Marlon Brando). Alexander the Great from
Macedonia is geared for a 2006 summer release and aimed toward a teen
audience.
The Ilya Salkind Company is actively in pre-production on the mega-film
"The Abominable Snowman." The legend of the "Abominable Snowman" has
been in the public consciousness for centuries and is one of the
greatest unresolved mysteries in the world. Ilya said, "I envision "The
Abominable Snowman" to follow in the blockbuster franchise tradition of
"Superman" and "The Three Musketeers". With today's seemingly unlimited
technologies in filmmaking, the time is right. We are assembling the
best creative team available in the world to capture on the screen this
mythical and extraordinary being in its awe-inspiring magnificence".
Ilya also returns to the visionary work of
Jules Verne (his very first film with his
father was based on Verne's "Light at the Edge of the World", starring
Kirk Douglas and
Yul Brynner) with the major motion picture
event The Nautilus, part of a diverse slate of film and television
projects with international appeal actively being developed by the
company.
