David Richard "R." Ellis was an American film director and former stuntman.
Ellis was born in Hollywood, California. He began his career in the film industry as a supporting actor in juvenile roles; his big screen debut was in the 1975 Kurt Russell film The Strongest Man in the World. One year later, he switched to stunts in the film Baby Blue Marine and worked from then on as a stuntman. His next career move came in 1981 with the promotion to stunt coordinator. After a successful five years in this position, he worked from 1986 on as an assistant director or second assistant director, in charge of action sequences from films such as The Matrix Revolutions and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
In 1996, Ellis made his debut as a director in the Disney live-action film Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, and has attained more attention for directing Final Destination 2 (2003), the continuation of the financially successful horror film franchise. He has also directed Final Destination 4, which revolves around death stalking audience members of a crash at a motor speedway that sends debris into the stands. Ellis' next work as director, the thriller Cellular, was a moderate success at the box office, which he attributed to competition from Resident Evil and bad marketing. His film Snakes on a Plane gained unusual hype on the Internet. Ellis directed the 3-D natural horror film Shark Night, which is based on a screenplay from Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes.
Death
He died suddenly on January 7, 2013 at the age of 60 while in Johannesburg, South Africa preparing to direct the film KITE.
Franchise |
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Final Destination movies |
Final Destination | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Bloodlines |
Final Destination novels |
Dead Reckoning | Destination Zero | End of the Line | Dead Man's Hand | Looks Could Kill | Death of the Senses | Wipeout (unpublished) | Final Destination | Final Destination 2 | Final Destination 3 |
Final Destination comics |
Sacrifice | Spring Break |
People |
Jeffrey Reddick | James Wong | Glen Morgan | Warren Zide | Craig Perry | Toby Emmerich | Shirley Walker | David R. Ellis | J. Mackye Gruber | Eric Bress | Brian Tyler | Steven Quale | Eric Heisserer |
Distributors |
New Line Cinema | Warner Brothers |