Disney Producer Andrew Gunn, Known for Freaky Friday, Dies at 58 After ALS Battle

DeAnna JanesWed, March 4, 2026 at 6:18 AM UTC

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(Photo by Albert L. Ortega on Getty Images)

Andrew Gunn, the longtime film producer and studio executive behind several big-budget, 2000s-era Disney hits, has died. He was 58 years old.

According to his family, per The Hollywood Reporter, Gunn passed away at his home in Toronto, Canada. In 2024, Gunn was diagnosed with ALS, the neurological degenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

As a Disney film producer, Gunn worked with the House of Mouse under former chairman Dick Cook and motion pictures president Nina Jacobson. His work includes several beloved comedies, from The Country Bears, Freaky Friday, and The Haunted Mansion, to Sky High, College Road Trip, Cruella, and Freakier Friday.

According to THR, Freaky Friday, the remake starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, might not have been made had it not been for Gunn’s championing the project. Following the film’s original cast of Annette Bening, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Tom Selleck falling apart, Gunn and his team landed on Lohan and Curtis, with the former beating out big names like Kristen Bell, Brie Larson, and Shiri Appleby.

The winning cast reteamed with Gunn for 2025’s sequel, with Curtis posting, "The ULTIMATE producer then and now! We 💜💚 ANDREW GUNN," in September 2025.

Born in Toronto in 1967, Gunn was especially proud to work on Freakier Friday with his two adult children, Isabelle and Connor Gunn, THR reported.

“The best part was my daughter worked in the camera department and got into the (cinematographers) union and my son worked in props. So I got to see them every day,” he wrote to the publication via text last year. “I can’t express what that meant to me.”

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In 2001, Gunn launched the Disney Writers Program, according to The DisInsider. The program helped kick-start the careers of screenwriters like David Berenbaum (Elf, TheHaunted Mansion), Matt Lopez (Father of the Bride, 2022), and Blaise Hemingway (Clifford the Big Red Dog).

In an Instagram post, Hemingway shared details about his journey through the program, writing that Gunn was pivotal in his career.

“In 2007, Andrew (along with Ann Marie Sanderlin and Amy Stenftenagel) read a script of mine and championed it (and me) to get me into the Disney Writer’s Program,” he wrote. “It changed my life in every conceivable way. … Andrew Gunn’s legacy will go far beyond the movies he made; he’s the ‘godfather’ to more writers, producers, directors, and executives than I can count. So many of us owe our careers to Andrew Gunn.”

Gunn is survived by his children, wife Jane Bellamy Gunn, mother Anne Gunn, and siblings Hilary Knight, Graeme Gunn, and Cameron Gunn. Andrew’s father, Charles Gunn, died Dec. 5, 2025, according to the Toronto Star.

“[Andrew] was incredibly driven, incredibly committed and incredibly dogged,” Jacobson told THR. “He brought a hope and an optimism and attentiveness. I trusted him.”

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This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”