Latest news with #Reckless'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Glengarry Glen Ross,' ‘Fifty Shades,' and ‘Fear' Director James Foley Dead at 71
Acclaimed director James Foley has died at age 71. A representative for the Foley family confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the filmmaker passed 'peacefully in his sleep earlier this week following a years-long struggle with brain cancer.' It is unclear when Foley was diagnosed and for how long his illness was. Foley most famously helmed the 1992 film adaptation of David Mamet's 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, and Kevin Spacey. Foley would later reunite with Spacey for 12 episodes of Netflix's first-ever series, 'House of Cards.' More from IndieWire Eli Craig on Why Scary Clowns Are Having a Moment: 'Gen Z Has Just Gone from One Mind-Boggling Absurdity to the Next' Jake Schreier in Early Talks to Direct 'X-Men' Movie for Marvel Studios Foley made his feature directorial debut in 1984 with 'Reckless' starring Daryl Hannah and Aidan Quinn. He was best known for working in the domestic thriller genre, despite defying filmmaker labels. His features include directing Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon in 'Fear,' Halle Berry and Bruce Willis in 'Perfect Stranger,' and 'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed' starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. As for TV, Foley directed episodes of 'House of Cards,' 'Hannibal,' 'Billions,' and 'Twin Peaks.' He also famously helmed Madonna's 'Papa Don't Preach' music video, along with the music videos for 'Dress You Up' 'Live to Tell,' 'True Blue,' 'Who's That Girl,' and 'The Look of Love.' Foley told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that he preferred to work in a litany of genres and mediums. 'The thing I would say I least like is there is an understandable tendency to, of course, pigeonhole somebody or identify them as, 'He does this kind of movie, so if we're making that kind of movie, we should get him and he'll make it like the other ones he's made,'' he said. 'That is of no interest to me, personally, to repeat myself. So I've always just followed my nose, for better or for worse, sometimes for worse.' He added, 'What's best and what's worst [about the industry] are almost the same to me. Because what's worst is you get pigeonholed and what's best is I haven't been. It means that I'm still making movies, despite hopping all over the place, so there's a great thing about Hollywood where it's not so purely linear, in terms of a director having a success critically and commercially and continuing that in an unbroken stream, which is true of no one, but the idea that you can make missteps and then redeem yourself by doing something else and then you're resurrected. What's horrible is you're buried so fast when you have a misstep or flop but there's resurrection potentially and that is the best part.' Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie The 55 Best LGBTQ Movies and TV Shows Streaming on Netflix Right Now
Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
James Foley, filmmaker who directed Madonna music videos and ‘Fifty Shades' sequels, dies at 71
Filmmaker James Foley, whose directing career spanned music videos, television and film, with stars including Madonna, Al Pacino and Bruce Dern, has died. Florent Lamy, a representative for Foley, confirmed the Brooklyn-born director's death to The Times on Thursday. Lamy did not provide a cause of death, but according to media outlets including the Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker had been battling brain cancer. Foley was 71. 'James Foley was not only a talented director but also a dear friend,' Lamy told The Times. 'He was one of my very first clients, and over time, he became someone very special in my life.' Foley's diverse directing career — which notably included films 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' 'At Close Range' and the 'Fifty Shades' sequels — began in the mid-1980s. The 1984 film 'Reckless' marked his directorial debut and gave him the opportunity to work alongside actors Daryl Hannah and Aidan Quinn and prolific producer-filmmaker Chris Columbus. In the following years, Foley directed films — including 1986's 'At Close Range' (featuring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken) and 1990's 'After Dark, My Sweet' (starring Dern) — as well as music videos and other visuals for Madonna, who was en route to global pop stardom at the time. From 1985 to 1990, Foley directed music videos for Madge's 'Dress You Up' and 'True Blue.' He directed both her music video 'Who's That Girl?' and her 1987 comedy of the same name. Foley also directed music videos for rock band Deep Purple and Marky Mark, actor Mark Wahlberg's former rap persona. He would later reunite with Wahlberg for the 1996 thriller 'Fear' and 1999's 'The Corruptor,' with Chow Yun-Fat. In 1992, Foley directed the film adaptation of playwright David Mamet's 'Glengarry Glen Ross.' One of Foley's most popular works, the adaptation featured a star-studded cast of Pacino, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey and Jonathan Pryce. Pacino received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his work on the dark comedy. Foley's final film credits, 'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed,' also were among his popular works. Foley took over the film franchise, based on E.L. James' erotic novels, after 'Fifty Shades of Grey' director Sam Taylor-Johnson departed over reported disputes with the author, who was also a producer. The 'Fifty Shades' films starred Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Foley also directed episodes for series 'Twin Peaks,' 'Hannibal,' 'House of Cards' (which reunited him with Spacey) and 'Billions,' among other shows. In a 2017 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Foley said he embraced the variety of his decades-long career. 'I've had a very fluid career of ups and downs and lefts and rights, and I always just responded to what I was interested in at the moment and I was very unconscious about genre,' he said. 'I've always just followed my nose, for better or for worse, sometimes for worse. What's best and what's worst [about the industry] are almost the same to me,' he added. 'Because what's worst is you get pigeonholed and what's best is I haven't been. It means that I'm still making movies, despite hopping all over the place.' Foley's survivors include his brother Kevin, sisters Eileen and Jo Ann, and nephew Quinn, according to several reports. He was preceded in death by his other brother Gerard.
