Michael France, the screenwriter behind several movie adaptations of Marvel superhero comics, died Friday at the age of 51.
He had been suffering from complications due to diabetes, his sister told the local paper in Tampa, Fla., where he lived.
Among France's adaptations were Ang Lee's "Hulk" in 2003, "The Punisher," starring John Travolta, in 2004, and "The Fantastic Four" in 2005.
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His first big break came in 1993, when he wrote the screenplay for Renny Harlin's 1993 thriller "Cliffhanger," which starred Slyvester Stallone. He followed that two years later with a story credit for the James Bond movie "GoldenEye" and did uncredited work on the script for another 007 adventure, "The World is Not Enough."
In 2007, France purchased the landmark Beach Theatre near Tampa for $800,000 cash, prolonging for five years the survival of a decades-old, single-screen venue where he watched movies as a child for five years. It closed in 2012.
"He wanted to reopen the theater, wanted to start writing again," his sister Suzanne France told the Tampa Bay Times. "Obviously he didn't think he was as sick as he was."