John Davis

Davis was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He is the son of Barbara Davis (née Levine), a philanthropist, and former 20th Century Fox owner and oil and media industrialist 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 Harvard Business School. Davis is of Jewish descent.

Davis, Chairman of Los Angeles–based Davis Entertainment, is one of the most prolific producers in film history, having produced more than 130 feature film and television projects. His movies have collectively grossed more than $8 billion worldwide, with talent such as Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr., Gal Gadot, Jennifer Lawrence, Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck, Denzel Washington, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eddie Murphy, Samuel L Jackson, and more. In television, John Davis has put twelve network series on the air in the last few years.

Upcoming Davis Entertainment releases include Amazon MGM Studios' The Pickup, starring Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson, and Keke Palmer, releasing on August 6, 2025; Amazon MGM Studios' Fake Wedding, starring Lili Reinhart; Netflix's 72 Hours, starring Kevin Hart; Focus Features' Song Sung Blue, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson; Netflix's Eddie Murphy documentary, Eddie; Paramount Pictures' Vertigo, starring Robert Downey Jr.; Universal Pictures' Blood Runs Coal, starring Cillian Murphy; and Sony's On Your Feet!, a feature adaptation of the Broadway musical telling the story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan. Upcoming television projects also include Rear Window, a reimagining of the Alfred Hitchcock classic, also for Peacock. Davis is also working on an untitled biopic on Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton starring Eddie Murphy alongside his daughter, Catherine Davis, who originated the project.

Davis' recent productions include Lionsgate's Flight Risk, starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, and Topher Grace; Lifetime's Mary J. Blige's Family Affair, starring Ajiona Alexus and Da'Vinchi, which Davis produced with his wife Jordan; the Netflix film Uglies, starring Joey King, also co-produced with Davis' wife Jordan, reached number one on Netflix and was watched by 67 million people; Sony Pictures' Harold and the Purple Crayon, which starred Zachary Levi and Zooey Deschanel; Predator origin movie Prey, starring Amber Midthunder. The movie was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie, among various other awards. Other Davis movies include Jaume Collet-Serra's Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, based on the Disney ride; Dolemite Is My Name, the Eddie Murphy starrer which was nominated for Best Comedy at the 77th Golden Globe Awards and won the Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy; the action comedy Game Night, starring Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and Kyle Chandler; the Oscar-nominated biopic Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence; the $100 million-plus-grossing micro-budgeted sci-fi thriller Chronicle; and the animated film Ferdinand, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

His past television credits include the international hit The Blacklist; the half-hour comedy series Laid, starring Stephanie Hsu; and The Equalizer, starring Queen Latifah. His other film credits include Mr. Popper's Penguins, starring Jim Carrey; the international adventure comedy hit Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black; the sci-fi thriller I, Robot, starring Will Smith; the Garfield film franchise; Courage Under Fire, starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan; the blockbuster drama The Firm, starring Tom Cruise; Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner; the Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau trilogy of Out to Sea, Grumpy Old Men, and Grumpier Old Men; Behind Enemy Lines, starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman; John Woo's Paycheck, starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman; and the Predator franchise films: Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Predator 2, and Alien vs. Predator.

Davis was honored as The Hollywood Reporter's Producer of the Year in 2015 and ShoWest's Producer of the Year in 2004. He also won two People's Choice Awards, for The Firmand Grumpy Old Men, and his films have received several Academy Award nominations.

Davis is married to Jordan Davis. They have 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.