Respected Lionsgate executive Jason Constantine has died at age 55 after a long battle with cancer, the studio announced Thursday.
The executive was a fixture on the festival circuit and a major player in the acquisitions space for years. He started his career more than 25 years ago at Trimark Pictures, the predecessor company of Lionsgate, where he served as director of acquisitions and rose through the ranks to become co-president of the Lionsgate motion picture group.
He was an early champion of Saw and pushed for the studio to acquire the project after viewing the short film from then-unknown director James Wan and writer-star Leigh Whannell. The franchise has grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, as has the John Wick series, which came under Constantine’s tenure.
He also worked on The Expendables franchise; best picture winner Crash; Lee Daniels’ Oscar-winning Precious, nominated for five Academy Awards and winner of two Oscars; and Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, which was a sleeper hit at the box office.
“With his fearless spirit, creative energy and enduring talent relationships, Jason embodied the very best of our studio and our industry. His influence will continue to be felt in many of our most successful franchises,” Lionsgate said in a statement. “His career was built around the principles that a great idea can come from anywhere, a box office triumph is meant to be shared by an entire team and our creative choices need to be bold and daring. We mourn the passing of a highly respected executive, a trusted partner and a cherished friend, and we extend our deepest condolences to his wife Kristin, his three children and his entire family.”
Constantine was a native of California, earning his B.A. from Princeton University and his M.F.A in film production from Loyola Marymount University. He was a movie buff, known for an encyclopedic knowledge of facts and figures about films.
His family asks that in lieu of flowers, mourners consider a donation to fund the brain cancer research of his neurosurgeons, Dr. Michael Lim at Stanford and Dr. Tim Cloughesy and Dr. Robert Chong at UCLA.
He is survived by his wife, Kristin, and his sons, Lucas, Nicholas and Xander.
