Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winning British film producer behind The Last Emperor and Sexy Beast, has died at the age of 77, prompting tributes from directors, actors and colleagues across the film industry.
A Producer of International Reach
Thomas was best known for producing Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor, which won nine Academy Awards in 1988, and for the British crime film Sexy Beast, a cult favourite starring Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley. Across a career spanning several decades, he built a reputation for working with international directors and for backing films that combined artistic ambition with commercial appeal.
The Last Emperor was a landmark co-production, chronicling the life of China’s last imperial ruler with a scale and cinematography that were unusual for its time. It remains one of the most decorated films in Oscar history. Sexy Beast, by contrast, was a smaller but sharp-edged British crime drama that has endured in popular culture in a way that few mid-budget British films do.
Thomas’s career also encompassed work with directors from different countries and traditions, reflecting an industry figure who moved between Hollywood, European cinema and British independent film. That breadth was one of the qualities most frequently noted in early tributes.
Why It Matters
Producers often sit behind the scenes in public memory, but Thomas was a significant figure in a profession that shapes what films get made and how they are financed. The Last Emperor, in particular, showed that a British-based producer could help deliver a film with international prestige and Oscar success. For the UK film industry, that kind of cross-border work has historically been an important showcase.
His death is also a reminder of the generation of producers who came up through the more eclectic, auteur-friendly corners of British and international cinema. While box-office hits and franchises dominate much of the modern conversation, Thomas’s filmography included titles that have lasted because of their style, taste and casting rather than their commercial scale alone.
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What Happens Next
Tributes are expected to continue from colleagues in the British and international film world, including directors and actors who worked with him directly. The Academy Awards and BAFTA communities may choose to mark the death formally, as they often do for figures with multiple Oscar wins or nominations.
For cinemas and home entertainment platforms, existing Thomas-produced films are unlikely to change in the short term, but re-releases, special screenings and renewed attention to titles such as The Last Emperor and Sexy Beast are common in the weeks after a prominent figure’s death. His body of work will remain a reference point for producers working across British and international cinema.
Source: BBC News (original report).
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