How did Albert Pyun die? Cult Filmmaker cause of death Explained

Albert Pyun passed away on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. His vast body of work includes cult classics including “Cyborg,” “The Sword and the Sorcerer,” “Nemesis,” and the 1989 “Captain America.” In this article we have shared how did he die? and what was Albert Pyun cause of death? in detail.

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How did Albert Pyun die?

A few years ago, Pyun received dual diagnoses of multiple sclerosis and dementia. His producer and wife, Cynthia Curnan, had been providing periodic updates on his health throughout the previous months. Later, when the director’s health started to deteriorate, she pleaded with admirers to send him private messages.

His wife Cynthia Curnan confirmed the news on her facebook page.

Albert Pyun passed away Saturday, November 26, at 5:50 pm. I sat with him for his last breath that sounded like he was releasing the weight of the world.
Albert Pyun Movies
Cynthia Curnan

Maggie Sager shared her condolences for Albert Pyun death on her facebook page. the message reads,

Our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the passing of an icon.
Thank you Albert Pyun for encouraging me and giving me the opportunity to chase my childhood dream of becoming an actress. You left a bigger mark on my life than you could ever know. Your words will always stick with me.
Rest in peace Albert. You were an amazing and bright star in our world.
Our hearts are with you Cynthia Curnan
Maggie Sager

Albert Pyun’s past illness history

Pyun said he had multiple sclerosis toward the end of 2013. His health had sufficiently recovered by March 2014 for him to shoot The Interrogation of Cheryl Cooper. He has dementia as well.

69 years old, Pyun passed away in Las Vegas on November 26, 2022.

Albert Pyun cause of death

The reason of death has not yet been disclosed.

No one from Albert Pyun’s family or Cynthia Curnan has disclosed the cause of his passing.

However, it appears that little can be spoken at this moment until the family issues a formal statement regarding the situation. As always, once this news is verified, we will look into it and notify you.

We must thus wait till the family members have had the time and space to absorb this enormous loss.

Once we get enough data, we will update the page. Soon, more details regarding Albert Pyun’s cause of death will be added.

Who was Albert Pyun?

American director Albert Pyun (May 19, 1953 – November 26, 2022) specialised in low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action pictures.

Pyun “has carved out a distinct niche as a filmmaker of low-budget, high-concept genre films featuring performers past their prime,” according to The Independent Film Channel, adding that “others say this is a charitable description for Pyun, who has also been ridiculed as the new Ed Wood.”

Pyun admitted in a 2012 interview that he had “really no interest in cyborgs,” despite his films frequently fusing kickboxing and hybrid martial arts with science fiction and dystopic or post-apocalyptic themes, which frequently feature cyborgs. Additionally, I have never shown much interest in post-apocalyptic themes or settings.

Those circumstances just appeared to offer a chance for me to make movies on a very tight budget and to explore concepts that I really wanted to investigate, even if they were

The Sword and the Sorcerer, Cyborg, Captain America, and Nemesis are just a few of Pyun’s movies.

Albert Pyun early life

Born on May 19, 1953, Pyun. Pyun was raised as a “military brat” and moved around to various bases before his father landed in Hawaii. On the windward side of Oahu, in the little town of Kailua, he attended school.

Pyun credits living abroad and growing up in Hawaii as having a significant influence on his filmmaking style. His first 8mm and 16mm films were produced in Kailua. [4] Pyun worked at several Honolulu production companies while still in high school before being asked to go to Japan for an internship by Toshiro Mifune, a famous Japanese actor.

Initially, Pyun was slated to work as an intern on Akira Kurosawa’s Dersu Uzala, a movie that would have starred Mifune. However, after the actor opted against participating, Pyun wound up working on a Mifune TV show under the guidance of Takao Saito, Kurosawa’s director of photography (Red Beard).

Pyun went back to Hawaii and started working at KGMB in Honolulu as a commercial film editor, editing commercials for companies like Bozell Jacobs and Leo Burnett. After working as an editor for a while, Pyun relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a feature film director.

Pyun’s highest grossing movie

The Sword and the Sorcerer, Pyun’s debut movie, continues to be his highest-grossing movie, bringing in $36,714,025 in the US. It debuted on April 30, 1982, and its $4,100,886 in box office receipts placed it second in America that week. For his portrayal of Cromwell, Richard Lynch won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. Stuntman Jack Tyree died while performing a high fall stunt at Griffith Park in Los Angeles during the movie’s production. Tyree hit his airbag off-center while performing a 78-foot fall while wearing a heavy costume and makeup, which had a fatal impact.

Following the commercial success of The Sword and the Sorcerer, Ronald Shusett’s screenplay for the science fiction film Total Recall, which was to be produced by Dino DeLaurentiis at Universal Pictures, was linked to Pyun (Alien). William Hurt was slated to star at the time.

The Golden Raven was given to his second movie, Radioactive Dreams, during the 5th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in 1987. The 2013 eX Fest of Exhumed Films recently featured the film “Radioactive Dreams.”

With the thriller Dangerously Close and the romantic adventure movie Down Twisted, starring Carey Lowell, Charles Rocket, and Courteney Cox, Pyun’s career began to go in a more mainstream direction.

Supermodel Kathy Ireland starred in Pyun’s late 1980s picture Alien from L.A., which was later parodied on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. March 2013 saw the DVD release of this episode.

On April 7, 1989, Pyun’s Cyborg debuted as the fourth-highest-grossing movie in America. In the end, it brought in $10,166,459 in the US. Pyun’s director’s cut of “Cyborg,” which he created 22 years ago, was released in 2011. In October 2012, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer issued the film again on Blu-ray.

Pyun produced Deceit and Captain America in 1989. In May 2011, Captain America received a director’s cut.

Early career

With Thomas Jane and Olivier Gruner in the early 1990s, Pyun created Nemesis; Brainsmasher… Teri Hatcher and Andrew Dice Clay starred in A Love Story in 1993, and Christopher Lambert and Ice-T starred in Mean Guns in 1997.

Kickboxer 2, directed by Pyun and written by David Goyer (Ghost Rider, Blade, The Dark Knight), debuted in theatres in June 1991 to mixed reviews.

Other 1990s movies include “Knights,” starring Kris Kristofferson, Kathy Long, and Lance Henriksen; “Dollman,” starring Tim Thomerson as a 13-inch-tall, extraterrestrial Dirty Harry-style cop; “Raven Hawk,” starring Rachel McLish and William Atherton; “Spitfire,” starring Henriksen, Sarah Douglas, Tim Thomerson, and Kristie Phillips; and “Hong Kong Fear the Rush, starring Christopher Lambert and Natasha Henstridge, Post Mortem, starring Charlie Sheen, Crazy Six, starring Rob Lowe, Mario Van Peebles, and Burt Reynolds, Omega Doom, starring Rutger Hauer and Shannon Whirry, and Arcade, starring Megan Ward, Seth Green, Peter Billingsly, and John Delancie, are all examples of films with an adrenaline theme. Pyun also produced The Fifth Corner, an episode of NBC/Columbia Tri-Star, which starred Alex McArthur, Kim Delaney, and James Coburn.

Pyun as directer and producer

For Artisan Entertainment in May 2000, Pyun directed and produced Ticker, which starred Steven Seagal, Tom Sizemore, Dennis Hopper, Jaime Pressly, Nas, Ice-T, and Chilli of the R&B group TLC. It was one of five movies honoured in 2002 by the Video Software Dealers Association for sales in the “Direct-to-Video/Limited Release by an Independent Studio” category.

In 2004, Pyun and John Laing travelled to the U.S. territory of Guam where they persuaded the Guam government to guarantee a loan for the production of their movie Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon with an investment of $800,000. Pyun claimed that he and his producer (Laing) had a “sterling financial record” and that neither of them had ever defaulted on a loan in an effort to persuade Guam officials to approve the loan guarantee. Laing stopped making payments on the loan in 2006, and Guam lost its guarantee. Laing cited Pyun as the reason the movie bombed.

In May 2012, John Laing and the Guam Economic Development Authority negotiated an out-of-court settlement, however up until October 2012, Laing had not complied with its requirements.

Late in 2012, GEDA Administrator Karl Pangelinan claimed that Laing had paid the remaining $75,000 of the settlement sum, leaving only $7,000 left to pay. Officials from GEDA confirmed that the final payment was made in February 2013, concluding the situation. Pyun was not a party to any of the court cases involving GEDA and Laing.

Tales of an Ancient Empire was put into production by Pyun in September 2008. Beginning on October 12, 2008, shooting. Fright Night Film Fest in Louisville, Kentucky, hosted the movie’s world premiere. Kevin Sorbo, Michael Paré, Melissa Ordway, and Ralf Moeller are among the cast members of the movie, which was eventually released by Lions Gate Films in January 2012.

Awards and honors

2011 – Induction into the B-movie Hall of Fame at the B-Movie Celebration.
2012 – Lifetime Achievement-Filmmaker of a Different Breed Award at the PollyGrind Film Festival.
2013 – Groundbreaker Award – BUT FILM FESTIVAL (Breda, Netherlands)
2005 – Golden Unicorn Award for lifetime achievement at the Estepona International Film Festival of Fantasy and Horror.

Tribute to Albert Pyun

Scott Clist said,

Very sad news to hear that legendary director Albert Pyun has passed on.

I have been a big fan of his films since I was a kid and first watched The Sword and the Sorcerer.

I wrote and directed a short fan film based on his film Nemesis from 1992. Due to licensing rights issues I had to change the name to Shadow of Automation. I originally wrote it to pay tribute to a director I highly respect. It is dedicated to him.

Alberts legacy will remain as he directed so many great movies over the years. If you have not seen one check out any of these classics. Cyborg, Nemesis, The Sword and the sorcerer, Mean Guns, Road to Hell, Radioactive Dreams, Kickboxer 2, Hong Kong 97, Knights, Dangerously Close, Brainsmasher, Down Twisted and many, many more.

Neil James Voice said,

The great director Albert Pyun passed away yesterday at the age of 69.

One of the best directors of genre films of the 80s and 90s.He directed some excellent films including Sword and the Sorcerer ,Cyborg ,Nemesis ,Dollman, Arcade and so many more.

Albert was a director who loved making genere films and the one thing you can say about all his films is they were always so much fun to watch.

R.I.P Albert thank you for the movies you made. They will never be forgotten.

Paul Gerrard said,

Damn it . Such a loss to the film world. Such an inspiration to all us filmakers, artists, dreamers. I grew up watching all his films and strive to create worlds like he did. He will be missed. Rest in peace dear Albert Pyun. Whatever I do next film wise I am dedicating it to you.

Michael Su said,

Thank you Albert, my mentor, colleague and friend, for the cinematic journey I got to go along with you.
When I first moved to the States, it was your films #TheSwordAndTheSorcerer and #Cyborg that gave me a safe place in a new land. Then many films more followed, and I could hardly believe that we would cross paths.

I’ll miss making films with you, and those hours spent talking about your past experiences in #Lalaland , your days flying by the seat of your pants to make film projects happen…thank you Cynthia for being the protector, the caretaker and the soul of the #Pyuniverse My love and my heart is with you. #AlbertPyun #RIP