The final film of veteran actor James Handy has been shelved after his shocking murder.
Handy – who was fatally stabbed at 81 – was set to star in an upcoming movie titled Kickback, V and writer and producer Heidi Anderson-Swan has revealed that the feature has now been scrapped.
The Hollywood veteran, who appeared in blockbusters Jumanji and Top Gun: Maverick, was found dead at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday after police received a terrifying 911 call from his girlfriend’s son, who has been arrested.
‘I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin,’ the suspect, Michael Gledhill, allegedly told the Los Angeles Police Department.
Handy, 81, was found unconscious in the front yard of his home in Tarzana, California, after suffering a stab wound to the chest. He was then taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Wednesday morning.
‘With great sadness, I can confirm that the gentleman who was attacked and killed on Wednesday in Tarzana was the actor James Handy,’ his talent agent, Pam Ellis-Evenas, said in a statement.
The final film of veteran actor James Handy has been shelved after his shocking murder
Handy is seen alongside Tom Cruise in blockbuster 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick
Now, the writer and producer of his final film, Anderson-Swan, confirmed to TMZ on Saturday that the film will no longer be moving forward.
The producer – who is known for her production work on 2008 animated film Bolt -revealed that the film had already been halted in pre-production due to several issues, including funding, and Handy’s death was the reckoning for the project.
Anderson-Swan also told the publication that she was shocked by the Hollywood veteran’s death.
She also commented that Handy was one of the sweetest people she has met in Hollywood and even credited him with helping her ‘a few times’ on projects as she was breaking into the industry.
The action film was centered around teen nerds who learn self-defense in order to stand up to their bullies who end up uncovering a city-wide corruption scandal.
Handy was fatally knifed at his home on Wednesday morning and was found bleeding to death in the front yard.
Gledhill, 44, who lived with his mother and Handy at the house, was booked on suspicion of murder on Wednesday and is being held on a $2 million bond.
His mother Wendy Gledhill, 76, has since claimed her son was schizophrenic and had stopped taking his medication before he allegedly killed her partner.
Handy as the exterminator in the film, Jumanji, where he starred alongside Kirsten Dunst
Wendy spoke 48 hours after son Michael was accused of stabbing the 81-year-old actor to death outside his home in Tarzana, California on Wednesday.
She explained that her son, 44, struggled with mental health issues and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but had gone off his meds.
‘[Handy’s family] know I loved him so much. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry this happened. I’m still in shock. I still can’t comprehend it,’ she told TMZ.
Gledhill was photographed looking shell-shocked at her home on Friday and told the California Post, ‘I loved James and my son.
‘I still can’t believe it… I can’t believe my son did it. I’m just trying to… I’m just trying to make it through one day at a time, a minute at a time.’
Photographs that emerged Friday afternoon showed Michael Gledhill being handcuffed by Los Angeles Police Department officers after the crime.
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