Sam Mercer, the previous leader of Industrial Light & Magic and long-term producing partner of M. Night Shyamalan, has passed away at the age of 69, a representative confirmed to TheWrap.
According to reports from the media, Mercer died on Feb. 12 from early-onset Alzheimer’s.
“Sam and I began working together when I was in my mid-20s. He taught me that the atmosphere of a set originates from the top. He led with kindness and showed me how to handle pressure with grace. He was the best mentor I could have asked for,” Shyamalan said in a statement.
A Massachusetts native, Mercer began his career in the film industry as a location manager on 1980s popular movies like “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” He then joined Walt Disney Pictures as a production executive at the studio’s more adult film labels Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures, overseeing the production of films like “Dead Poets Society,” “Quiz Show” and “The Joy Luck Club.”
After leaving Disney, Mercer transitioned to work as a full-time film producer, with his breakthrough hit being his first film with Shyamalan: “The Sixth Sense,” which earned $672 million worldwide at the box office in 1999. Shyamalan and Mercer then proceeded to produce six more films together, including “Unbreakable,” “Signs” and “The Village.”
“He turned every movie into a family and I’ve tried to follow that in every film since,” Shyamalan said. “He made me laugh and comforted me at the same time. He did this with everyone. I’ll never forget his perfectly tidy desk, his kind eyes and his magical ability to convey that everything was going to be OK. When he was around, that was always true.”
In the later years of his career, Mercer was appointed by Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy to lead the studio’s renowned visual effects division Industrial Light & Magic in 2015. Among the films that ILM worked on under Mercer’s leadership were “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Captain America: Civil War” and Martin Scorsese’s “Silence.”
Deadline was first to report the news.
