Ridley Scott has suspended production on his new film The Counsellor following the sudden death of his brother Tony Scott.The filmmaker had been working on the movie, which stars Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Cameron Diaz, in London when he heard that his director brother had died in the US on Sunday.According to The Hollywood Reporter, he decided to halt shooting for the week and travel to Los Angeles to be with his family.
Tony Scott, 68, jumped off a bridge in Los Angeles and his death is being treated as suicide.
An initial autopsy has been performed but results will take weeks.
There had been reports that he was suffering from inoperable brain cancer, but the Los Angeles Coroner's office has said his family were not aware of any such illness.
Chief coroner's investigator Caig Harvey said there was no other insight as to why Tony might have jumped.
In the days before his death the director was working as usual. Less than 48 hours earlier he was with Tom Cruise at a military base in Nevada researching their forthcoming sequel to Tony Scott's most famous film Top Gun.They were due to start filming early next year and the movie was to focus on the use of drones in modern warfare.Tributes have continued to pour in from directors and actors, among them Denzel Washington who Tony directed in five films including The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 ."Tony Scott was a great director, a genuine friend and it is unfathomable to think that he is now gone," said Denzel. "He had a tremendous passion for life and for the art of film-making and was able to share this passion with all of us through his cinematic brilliance."