David R. Ellis, director of FINAL DESTINATION 2 and most recently, SHARK NIGHT, has passed away.

Often working in genre and reveling in the wicked fun it had to offer with very little pretense (he reportedly wanted to keep SHARK NIGHT’s moniker as UNTITLED 3D SHARK THRILLER), David Ellis will perhaps best be remembered by fans for his incredible work on FINAL DESTINATION 2. Boasting one of the best senses of humor found in a horror film, Ellis helped craft the series’ brightest entry, expertly staging the film’s elaborate set pieces (that highway sequence!) and adeptly balancing the frightening, thrilling and outlandish—and forever keeping us anxious around highway trucks loaded with logs and laughing around plate glass windows.

Outside of his horror work, Ellis was an accomplished stunt man-turned-stunt coordinator and subsequently second unit director, creating unforgettable action in the likes of SCARFACE, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, THE MATRIX RELOADED and many more. Ellis died while in Johannesburg, South Africa prepping a film that would have reunited him with his SNAKES ON A PLANE star Samuel L. Jackson. 

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