Michael France, the screenwriter behind several Marvel superhero adaptations, died Friday in Tampa, Fla., at the age of 51.
He died of complications from diabetes, his sister told the Tampa Bay Times.
France wrote the screenplays for Ang Lee's "Hulk" in 2003; "The Punisher," starring John Travolta, in 2004; and "The Fantastic Four" in 2005.
Also read: Notable Celebrity Deaths of 2013
He got his big break in 1993, when he wrote the screenplay for Renny Harlin's thriller "Cliffhanger," which starred Sylvester Stallone. He followed that two years later with a story credit for the James Bond movie "GoldenEye," and also did uncredited work on another 007 script, "The World is Not Enough."