Some sad news has come out of Hollywood today that director David R. Ellis has passed away at the age of 60. The director of such genre films as Final Destination 2 (2003), Snakes on a Plane (2006) , Asylum (2008), The Final Destination (2009) and Shark Night 3D (2011) began his career as an actor working in Disney films. He went on to a career as a stuntman in over 50 films and was promoted to a stunt coordinator on the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).
Ellis moved up to a second unit director in 1986 on the TV movie Condor. He was second unit director on such films as Warlock (1989), Patriot Games (1992), Clear and Present Danger (1994) , Waterworld (1995), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and many more. He got his big break as director in 1996 on the Disney film Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco and was in the midst of a great directorial career when he passed. Ellis also had several projects both as second unit director and director in various stages of production and post-production due to be released in 2013 and beyond. Ellis was in Johannesburg, South Africa prepping for his next film Kite when he passed away early this morning.
For fans of the horror genre, Ellis brought us some really great, fun films and he will most definitely be missed. His contribution to cinema as an actor, stuntman and director is immeasurable, to say the least. We here at Horror Society would like to offer our deepest condolences to David R. Ellis’ family and friends during this difficult time.
