10 Movie Characters Who Were Killed Off Way Too Soon

Three years after Drew Barrymore was shockingly killed off in Scream, something that will be referenced again before the end of this list, Deep Blue Sea pulled something similar with Samuel L. Jackson.

Easily the biggest name on the cast list, Jackson acted as the protagonist throughout the movie right up until he was killed in a move that no one saw coming. Just moments after giving an inspirational speech on how to survive the killer sharks, Jackson's Franklin Russell was brutally eaten, giving the film its funniest, most exciting, and most memorable moment all at once.

Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin reportedly took inspiration from Alien for this move. Back in 1979, Tom Skerritt was the biggest name in the film, and so, naturally, Dallas was assumed to be the main character, which, of course, all changed with his death.

The difference, however, with no disrespect intended towards the cast of Deep Blue Sea, is that the 1999 outing didn't have an Ellen Ripley to carry the story home. While Sigourney Weaver's iconic performance meant that Skerritt's character could be killed off in Alien, there was a big Samuel L. Jackson-shaped hole in the rest of Deep Blue Sea. Yes, it was a moment that shocked, but was it worth losing the movie's clear MVP for it? Probably not.