Chuck Russell, who directed the hit Jim Carrey comedy The Mask, as well as “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the action thriller The Scorpion King, has died.
Russell’s family told TMZ that the filmmaker died unexpectedly in his San Diego-area home on Wednesday. He was 74. Per TMZ, a local fire department responded to a report of a medical emergency involving an unconcious male at the filmmaker’s home. Russell’s cause of death has not yet been disclosed.
In The Mask, Carrey stars as Stanley Ipkis, a bank teller who transforms into a green-faced superhero whenever he puts on a mysterious mask.
The 1994 adventure comedy, which marked the big-screen debut of Cameron Diaz, was a worldwide blockbuster that made $351.8 million at the global box office against an $18 million budget. The film was nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar in 1995.
Chuck Russell Directed 12 Films Over His Career
Born Charles Raymond Russell on May 9, 1952 in Park Ridge, Ill., Russell’s Hollywood career began as a production coordinator in 1976,
As a screenwriter, Russell made his debut as one of the scribes on the 1984 sci-fi thriller Dreamscape, starring Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow.
Russell was also a co-writer (along with Frank Darabont) on the screenplay for 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, on which he also made his feature directorial debut.
A year later, Russell directed a remake of the Steve McQueen monster movie The Blob from a screenplay he co-wrote with Darabont.
After directing The Mask in 1994, Russell directed the Arnold Schwarzenegger action thriller Eraser in 1995, which was followed by Kim Basinger’s 2000 psychological thriller Bless This Child.
In 2002, Russell directed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in his first lead role in a film in The Scorpion King, a spinoff film from director Stephen Sommers’ 2001 hit The Mummy Returns, which featured the then-WWE wrestler in a supporting role.
Russell’s other credits as a director include an episode of the sci-fi series Fringe in 2010, as well as the films Wrath (2016), starring John Travolta, and Paradise City (2002), which starred Travolta and Bruce Willis.
The filmmaker’s last credited turn as director was in the 2024 supernatural horror thriller Witchboard, which he also co-wrote.
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