The Hollywood filmmaking community is in mourning, with the sudden loss of director Chuck Russell, who died on Wednesday at 74.

The filmmaker died unexpectedly at his home in the San Diego area, his family told TMZ, which also reported that the local fire department responded to a call at his address.

The Wednesday afternoon call involved a medical emergency for an unconscious male, though no details about the cause of death were reported at the time.

His family was said to be flying in to California to determine answers regarding his death, as he leaves behind a legacy of successful films starring Jim Carrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dwayne Johnson.

Born May 9, 1952 in Park Ridge, Illinois, Russell left his home state and moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Illinois Chicago.

He started his career by working in various production capacities such as a second unit production assistant on 1976’s “Cannonball!” and second unit director on 1976’s “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw”.

Russell was also writing screenplays during this time while cutting his teeth as a producer on indie films such as 1981’s “Hell Night,” where he met his longtime friend and collaborator Frank Darabont.

His first writing credit came on 1984’s “Dreamscape,” alongside David Loughery and director Joseph Ruben, and he produced the Rodney Dangerfield comedy “Back to School” in 1986.

Making his directorial debut with 1987’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors”, which Russell co-wrote with Darabont, Bruce Wagner and franchise creator Wes Craven.

Russell returned to the director’s chair a year later with the 1988 cult horror classic “The Blob,” which he also co-wrote with Darabont.

The director wouldn’t return to the silver screen for six more years, but he returned with quite a splash with the 1994 hit “The Mask,” starring Jim Carrey featuring a breakout performance from Cameron Diaz.

The film was a massive hit, earning $350 million worldwide from just a $23 million budget, paving the way for a string of major studio movies.

He teamed up with Arnold Schwarzenegger for the 1996 action-thriller “Eraser,” which took in $242 million from a $100 million budget.

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His next film, 2000’s “Bless the Child” starring Kim Basinger and Jimmy Smits didn’t perform quite as well, taking in just $40 million worldwide, but his next film helped launch a major star’s career.

He directed “The Scorpion King” in 2002 – the first major starring role for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, providing an origin story for the title character who had previously (and briefly) appeared in 2001’s “The Mummy Returns.”

While the film was fairly successful ($180 million from a $60 million budget), Russell wouldn’t work for several more years, next returning to the director’s chair in 2010 for an episode of the Fox series “Fringe.”

Russell returned to the big screen with 2016’s “I Am Wraith” starring John Travolta and Christopher Meloni and the 2019 Indian action film “Junglee.”

His last two films were 2022’s “Paradise City” starring John Travolta and Bruce Willis and 2024’s “Witchboard” starring Madison Iseman.

The filmmaker is survived by his wife Ania, who he married in 2007, children Logan, Riley and Carlyn, and sister Anne Jacob.