Chuck Russell obituary
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- Chuck Russell, film-maker who reshaped The Mask as an exuberant comic spectacular, has died aged 74
- The Mask was Russell's madcap comedy that launched the film careers of Cameron Diaz and Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson
- Russell described himself as "a thrill junkie with a sense of humour," with The Mask cited as proof of that sensibility
- Russell was known as a director who took a comic property and turned it into a franchise-launching vehicle, giving two future superstars their big-screen debuts
Why it matters: Russell's death marks the passing of a director whose commercial instincts turned a single comic book character into a star-making vehicle, establishing Cameron Diaz and Dwayne Johnson as bankable film leads whose careers reshaped Hollywood for three decades.
