Sam Mercer, Producer of M. Night Shyamalan Films, Dies at 69
The former location manager and Disney exec partnered with the writer-director on eight movies, including ‘The Sixth Sense,’ ‘Unbreakable,’ ‘Signs’ and ‘Devil.’
He was not on the list.
Sam Mercer, who produced eight M. Night Shyamalan films starting with the spooky blockbuster The Sixth Sense, has died. He was 69.
Mercer died Feb. 12 at his home in South Pasadena after a battle with younger-onset Alzheimer’s, his wife, Tegan Jones, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Mercer was seen as an out-of-the-box hire when he joined Industrial Light & Magic in September 2015 to oversee and coordinate activities of the VFX giant’s studios in San Francisco, Vancouver, London and Singapore. However, he left the next year after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Mercer began his career as a location manager on films including Stripes (1981), National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and The Witches of Eastwick (1987).
He joined Disney and was a production executive on such features as Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Dead Poets Society (1989), and as a production vp at Hollywood Pictures, he oversaw the release of films including Arachnophobia (1990), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Quiz Show (1994).
Mercer produced Congo (1995) and The Relic (1997) at Paramount before connecting with Shyamalan on the writer-director’s The Sixth Sense (1999), distributed by Disney. Starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment, it raked in $673 million worldwide as the No. 2 grossing movie of the year, behind only The Phantom Menace.
The pair then collaborated on the Shyamalan-directed Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), The Village (2004), Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008) and The Last Airbender (2010) and on the Shyamalan co-written Devil (2010).
“Sam and I started working together when I was in my mid-twenties,” Shyamalan said in a statement. “He taught me that the culture of a set comes from the top down. He led with kindness and showed me how to navigate pressure with grace. He was the best big brother I could have hoped for.
“He made every movie a family, and I’ve tried to emulate that in every film since. He made me laugh and took care of me at the same time. He did this with everyone. I’ll never forget his perfectly neat desk, his gentle eyes and his magical ability to convey that everything was going to be OK. When he was around, that was always true.”
A native of Weston, Massachusetts, Samuel Loring Mercer was the youngest of four sons. He attended the Groton School and Occidental College before making his way to Hollywood.
His producing résumé also included Van Helsing (2004), Jarhead (2005), Things We Lost in the Fire (2007), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), Heaven Is for Real (2014), The BFG (2016) and Concrete Cowboy (2020), written and directed by Ricky Staub, his former assistant.
“Working for Sam changed the entire trajectory of my life,” Staub said in a statement. “He showed me how filmmaking could be a transformative experience for a crew and not just a job. It’s the in-between moments I cherish the most: the walks to lunch, him jokingly calling me ‘Ricky Bobby,’ the late nights when it was just us with pages of spreadsheets. In his passing, I am filled with immense gratitude that I got to experience, firsthand, this man’s beautiful legacy.”
In addition to his wife, survivors include his children, Miles and Sierra. Donations in his memory can be made to Lorenzo’s House.
Producer
Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin in Concrete Cowboy (2020)
Concrete Cowboy
6.3
executive producer
2020
Mark Rylance and Ruby Barnhill in The BFG (2016)
The BFG
6.3
producer (produced by)
2016
Heaven Is for Real (2014)
Heaven Is for Real
5.8
executive producer
2014
Sabbatical (2012)
Sabbatical
6.5
Short
producer
2012
Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, and Chris Hemsworth in
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Snow White and the Huntsman
6.1
producer (produced by)
2012
Tak Fujimoto, John Erick Dowdle, Sam Mercer, Brian Nelson,
M. Night Shyamalan, Martin Whist, Elliot Greenberg, and Fernando Velázquez in
Devil (2010)
Devil
6.3
producer
2010
Noah Ringer in The Last Airbender (2010)
The Last Airbender
4.0
producer (produced by)
2010
Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The
Happening (2008)
The Happening
5.0
producer
2008
Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)
Things We Lost in the Fire
7.1
producer
2007
Bryce Dallas Howard in Lady in the Water (2006)
Lady in the Water
5.5
producer
2006
Jarhead (2005)
Jarhead
7.0
executive producer
2005
The Village (2004)
The Village
6.6
producer
2004
Kate Beckinsale and Hugh Jackman in Van Helsing (2004)
Van Helsing
6.1
executive producer
2004
Signs (2002)
Signs
6.8
producer
2002
Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis in Unbreakable (2000)
Unbreakable
7.3
producer
2000
Location Management
Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, and Cher
in The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
The Witches of Eastwick
6.5
location manager
1987
Kathleen Turner in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
Peggy Sue Got Married
6.4
location manager
1986
Paul Reubens in Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure
7.0
location manager
1985
Oh, God! You Devil (1984)
Oh, God! You Devil
5.4
location manager
1984
Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Fred Ward in Swing Shift
(1984)
Swing Shift
5.9
location manager
1984
Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Christie Brinkley in
Vacation (1983)
Vacation
7.3
location manager
1983
Second Thoughts (1983)
Second Thoughts
5.4
location manager
1983
Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Desi Arnaz, and Griffin O'Neal in The
Escape Artist (1982)
The Escape Artist
6.1
location manager
1982
Bill Murray in Stripes (1981)
Stripes
6.8
location manager (as Samuel L. Mercer)
1981
Production Manager
Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The
Happening (2008)
The Happening
5.0
unit production manager (as S. L. Mercer)
2008
Bryce Dallas Howard in Lady in the Water (2006)
Lady in the Water
5.5
unit production manager (as S.L. Mercer)
2006
Signs (2002)
Signs
6.8
unit production manager
2002
Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis in Unbreakable (2000)
Unbreakable
7.3
unit production manager
2000
Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Sixth Sense
8.2
unit production manager
1999
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