'Saw' producer dead at 42

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Film producer Gregg Hoffman, who
developed an eight-minute film into the horror hit "Saw" and its gory
successor "Saw II," died unexpectedly after complaining of pain. He was
42.

Hoffman died Sunday at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, where he had
been admitted after developing neck pain, his business partners said.
He died of natural causes, according to a news release from Lions Gate
Entertainment, which distributed his recent films. An autopsy was
planned.

Hoffman and his partners at Twisted Pictures financed the low-budget
films "Saw" (2004) and "Saw II" (2005) and stood to reap millions of
dollars.

The first film cost about $1 million to make, opened over Halloween
weekend last year at No. 3 at the box office, and grossed more than
$102 million in DVD and box office revenue.

The $4 million sequel, released just before Halloween this year, ranked
No. 1 at the box office in its debut weekend with $31.7 million in
receipts. It has made $86 million in six weeks, according to box office
figures released Monday.

The movies center around a sadistic serial killer called Jigsaw who
devises intricate games to get his kidnapped victims to kill each
other.

"We've won the lottery," Hoffman, a former Walt Disney Co. executive,
told the Los Angeles Times in November.

Hoffman began working for Disney in 1995, rising to become a senior
vice president of production and earning a producer credit on the
family comedy "George of the Jungle" (1997).

He joined Koules and Mark Burg at their management and production
company, Evolution Entertainment, in 2003. Soon after, he saw the
eight-minute clip about a serial killer called "Saw" and proposed
making it into a full-length feature. The original story was by James
Wan, who went on to direct the feature "Saw," and Leigh Whannell, who
starred in it.

"He discovered this movie, brought it in and talked us into making it.
He was the driving force behind it," said Oren Koules, one of his
Twisted Pictures partners.

The "Saw" films' success led to multi-picture development deals with
Lions Gate and Dimension Films. Hoffman was working on "Saw III" and
"Crawlspace" when he died.

He is survived by his wife, Lucienne; two children; his mother; and a
sister.

Lots of deaths this year. Sad indeed.

On 6 Dec 2005 09:21:18 -0800, "Bob" wrote:

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Film producer Gregg Hoffman, who
developed an eight-minute film into the horror hit "Saw" and its gory
successor "Saw II," died unexpectedly after complaining of pain. He was
42.

Hoffman died Sunday at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, where he had
been admitted after developing neck pain, his business partners said.
He died of natural causes, according to a news release from Lions Gate
Entertainment, which distributed his recent films. An autopsy was
planned.

Hoffman and his partners at Twisted Pictures financed the low-budget
films "Saw" (2004) and "Saw II" (2005) and stood to reap millions of
dollars.

The first film cost about $1 million to make, opened over Halloween
weekend last year at No. 3 at the box office, and grossed more than
$102 million in DVD and box office revenue.

The $4 million sequel, released just before Halloween this year, ranked
No. 1 at the box office in its debut weekend with $31.7 million in
receipts. It has made $86 million in six weeks, according to box office
figures released Monday.

The movies center around a sadistic serial killer called Jigsaw who
devises intricate games to get his kidnapped victims to kill each
other.

"We've won the lottery," Hoffman, a former Walt Disney Co. executive,
told the Los Angeles Times in November.

Hoffman began working for Disney in 1995, rising to become a senior
vice president of production and earning a producer credit on the
family comedy "George of the Jungle" (1997).

He joined Koules and Mark Burg at their management and production
company, Evolution Entertainment, in 2003. Soon after, he saw the
eight-minute clip about a serial killer called "Saw" and proposed
making it into a full-length feature. The original story was by James
Wan, who went on to direct the feature "Saw," and Leigh Whannell, who
starred in it.

"He discovered this movie, brought it in and talked us into making it.
He was the driving force behind it," said Oren Koules, one of his
Twisted Pictures partners.

The "Saw" films' success led to multi-picture development deals with
Lions Gate and Dimension Films. Hoffman was working on "Saw III" and
"Crawlspace" when he died.

He is survived by his wife, Lucienne; two children; his mother; and a
sister.

always to d*mn depressing when you hear of someone, same age as you, even
though you don't know them personally, "dying of natural causes"...