Hanson co-wrote (with Brian Helgeland), directed and produced L.A. Confidential (1997), an adaptation of James Ellroy’s noir novel which was up for Best Picture and also earned him a directing nom and won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
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According to TMZ, paramedics responded to a call Tuesday afternoon, when Hanson went unconscious at his home in the Hollywood Hills.
Eminem paid tribute to the director in a statement, saying: “Curtis Hanson believed in me and our insane idea to make a rap battle movie set in Detroit”.
He continued his success by making movies like The River Wild, Wonder Boys, and finally, 8 Mile, which was quite a shift of scenery for Curtis Hanson. “I will miss him”, Rob Lowe tweeted. “Confidential” who took our lines, gave them emotion, humor, life”, Hanson said in his Oscar acceptance speech.
Crowe wrote on Twitter: “Thank you for believing in me & standing your ground”. Curtis Hanson actually didn’t know much about the hip-hop culture prior to directing 8 Mile in 2002, so there were many conversations going back and forth between the skillful director and an equally skillful rapper.
Hanson made his directorial debut in 1972 with the horror movie Sweet Kill starring Tab Hunter, while his last completed film was the Eric Bana-Robert Duvall poker drama Lucky You.
Academy Award winning screenwriter Curtis Hanson has died. “So smart, so kind and a great storyteller”.
“And, so in my getting to know him, I had to assess and then make an educated guess of whether he would be able to do to that and whether he would trust me and the environment I would create enough to do that”.
In 2011, the TV movie Hanson directed for HBO about the financial crisis of 2008, “Too Big To Fail”, was nominated for multiple Emmys, including outstanding TV movie and outstanding direction.
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He also helmed Losin’ It (1983), the teen comedy starring Tom Cruise; The River Wild (1994), the rafting action adventure starring Meryl Streep; Michael Douglas-starrer Wonder Boys (2000); and In Her Shoes (2005), a comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette.
