David Loughery, the screenwriter whose credits included the action pictures Dreamscape, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and the Wesley Snipes-starring Money Train and Passenger 57, has died. He was 71.
Loughery died Tuesday of skin cancer in St. Petersburg, Florida, his friend Fred Rappaport told The Hollywood Reporter.
Loughery collaborated with director Joseph Ruben on Dreamscape (1984), starring Dennis Quaid; The Good Son (1993), starring Macauley Culkin; Money Train (1995), with Woody Harrelson alongside Snipes in their follow-up to White Men Can’t Jump; and Blindsided (2013), starring Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton.
Born on March 3, 1953, in Oak Park, Illinois, Loughery graduated from Ball State University, then received his master’s degree from the University of Iowa. In 1981, he shared a story credit on an episode of ABC’s Hart to Hart.
After his film debut on Dreamscape, he had the sole screenplay credit and shared a story credit on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), the installment in the Paramount franchise that was directed by star William Shatner.
Loughery followed with Flashback (1990), starring Dennis Hopper and Kiefer Sutherland; Passenger 57 (1992), directed by Kevin Hooks; and The Three Musketeers (1993), the Stephen Herek-helmed adaptation that featured Sutherland, Charlie Sheen and Chris O’Donnell.
His screenwriting résumé also included Neil LaBute’s Lakeview Terrace (2008), starring Samuel L. Jackson, and Obsessed (2009), starring Beyoncé and Idris Elba. Plus, he added producer duties on the more recent The Intruder (2019), Fatale (2020) and Shattered (2022).
Survivors include his wife, Mel; his mother, Joan; and his siblings, William and Amy.