Published at: Nov. 11, 2005, 7:59 a.m. CST by staff
Hey folks, Quint here. Before I went to bed last night I got early word that Moustapha Akkad had been injured in one of the three Jordanian terror bombings that Al Queda have taken responsibility for. Akkad had been "seriously injured" and his daughter had been killed. I awoke this morning to find a few emails (heads up from Omegasixx) in the inbox telling me that Akkad has died of these injuries plus a heart attack that he suffered after the explosion.
Akkad is best known for giving John Carpenter his bankroll for HALLOWEEN and has been the face of the series since then, having a big hand in all the sequels. Some of these have been pretty ridiculous, but as a money man, he always did find a way to keep the films theatrical pictures that kept making money.
He's lesser known as a director of the 1976 Oscar nominated epic on the religion of Islam THE MESSAGE starring Anthony Quinn. He shot two versions of this movie at the time, the English language one above and the Arabic version, AL RISALAH. They would stage the scene, have the English and Arabian actors on set, shoot the scene in one language, then bring in the other actors and shoot it on the same sets in the other language. Both films are very well respected.
In 1981, Akkad also directed LION OF THE DESERT with Quinn and Oliver Reed.
His death was brutally violent and I can't imagine losing not only one, but two family members in such a violent way. My thoughts are with and my heart goes out to his friends, family and fans.
