David R Ellis, best known as the director of Snakes On A Plane and two of the Final Destination movies, has died in South Africa aged 60. No cause of death has been determined yet, although the filmmaker was in Africa preparing a new film called Kite, which would have reunited him with Samuel L. Jackson.
Born in Santa Monica, California on David R. Ellis began his career in the mid-1970s as an actor, stuntman, and stunt coordinator, working on films a diverse as Smokey And The Bandit, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Lethal Weapon and The Addams Family. He continued to work his way up the ladder as a second unit director on films such as Thunderheart, Clear and Present Danger, Waterworld, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and The Matrix Reloaded.
He made his feature directorial debut with the 1996 movie Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco. He followed that with Final Destination 2, Cellular, Snakes on a Plane, Asylum, The Final Destination, and 2011’s Shark Night 3D.
The director is survived by his wife Cindy, and their daughter, Tawny.