James Handy’s final film project has been canceled following his tragic death on Wednesday.
Screenwriter Heidi Anderson-Swan told TMZ on Saturday that her last film with Handy, Kickback V, was canceled in pre-production due to several issues, including financing.
The comedy was set to depict a group of nerds learning martial arts and the relationships that form between the students and their karate teacher.
Anderson-Swan clung to Handy and remembered how kind he was.
The producer said the “Top Gun: Maverick” actor supported her when she first stepped on the scene.
Anderson-Swan added to the article that she was shocked by Handy’s death.
‘Jumanji’ star stabbed to death by his girlfriend’s son Michael Gledhill.
Police said Handy was found unconscious and bleeding in the front yard of his girlfriend’s home in Tarzana, California, on Wednesday morning.
Officials said the actor was stabbed multiple times in the chest and was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“I’m a son of man and I just killed a man who committed a crime,” Gledhill told dispatchers, according to audio from the 911 call.
Police allege Gledhill alerted officers who arrived at the scene and confessed to the stabbing. He was also seen leaving the crime scene after the murder.
On Friday, Gledhill, 44, was charged with one count of murder.
“No one should have to end their life by being stabbed in the chest and left in their front yard to die,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hockman said in a press release.
“The victim, James Handy, deserved to spend his final years enjoying what he worked so hard for and enjoying it with the people he loved and cared about. Like all murder victims, his life mattered, and the person who inexplicably and violently took his life must be held accountable for his actions.”
On Friday, Handy’s ex-girlfriend, Wendy Gledhill, told the California Post that she “can’t believe” her son’s alleged stabbing.
“I’m just trying to get through it one day at a time, one minute at a time,” she added.
The same day, Wendy, 76, told TMZ that Michael has serious mental health issues and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2025.
Wendy said she learned that Michael had stopped taking his medication just a week before Handy was killed.
Neighbors also told the California Post that Michael could sometimes exhibit strange and paranoid behavior.
“He looked really stiff…he didn’t seem to be changing his clothes very much,” Joheina Kibor said.
Michael is currently being held at the Van Nuys Jail. His bail is set at $2 million.
Gledhill faces up to 26 years to life in state prison.
