Douglas Cook co-writer of Hollywood hits THE ROCK and DOUBLE JEOPARDY has died of undisclosed causes, however according to Deadline he was “surrounded by his family” when he passed, he was 56 years young.

A genre writer with a sense for high concept thrillers, Cook and his writing partner, David Weisberg (who co-wrote the same projects) first worked together on PAYOFF a 1991 TV movie. They also wrote the upcoming CRIMINAL which stars Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, and Ryan Reynolds as people involved in an ill-fated CIA plan to put the memories of a dead agent in the body of a dangerous killer.

But it was the blockbuster THE ROCK released in 1996 directed by Michael Bay and was easily their biggest success grossing more than $335 million worldwide . The film starred Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery as the heroes trying to stop rogue team of special forces from destroying San Francisco with nerve gas.