Morgan Spurlock, Documentarian Behind ‘Tremendous Measurement Me,’ Dies at 53

Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, greatest recognized for starring within the fast-food documentary “Tremendous Measurement Me,” died on Thursday on the age of 53.

In an announcement, his household stated that Spurlock “handed away peacefully surrounded by household and pals in New York from issues of most cancers.”

Spurlock made a splash together with his 2004 movie, “Tremendous Measurement Me” — his first as a director. Whereas visiting his mother and father for Thanksgiving in 2002, the West Virginia-born director chanced upon a TV information characteristic that reported on two ladies who had sued McDonald’s over misinformation in regards to the dietary worth of the Chicago-based chain’s meals, resulting in pronounced weight achieve. And the concept for “Tremendous Measurement Me” was hatched.

“A spokesman from McDonald’s got here on and stated, ‘You’ll be able to’t hyperlink their weight problems to our meals — our meals is wholesome, it’s nutritious,’” Spurlock instructed the New York Occasions in a 2004 interview. “I assumed, ‘If it’s so good for me, I ought to be capable to eat it daily, proper?’”   

Within the documentary, he ate solely McDonald’s meals for 30 days and chronicled the affect the weight loss program had on his bodily and psychological well-being. Past that, all through taking pictures the movie, Spurlock didn’t let himself flip down “supersize” choices — the biggest McDonald’s parts — if a server supplied them. Interspersed with clips of his quick meals consumption had been interviews with numerous healthcare professionals and his doctor. 

By the top of his month-long experiment with McDonald’s, Spurlock, who additionally exercised much less over the course of filmmaking to be able to mimic a median American’s exercise degree, stated that he gained 25 kilos and claimed he ended up affected by each despair and liver dysfunction. A lot later, in 2017, he admitted to a ingesting drawback in a assertion — “not being sober for greater than per week in 30 years” — that many believed might have doubtlessly contributed to (or brought on) the liver points.

Shortly after the “Tremendous Measurement Me” launch, McDonalds opted to discontinue its “super-size” choice. And a backlash towards the fast-food business had began.

On the time of its launch, the documentary was credited with elevating consciousness in regards to the American weight loss program and the weight problems epidemic. “Tremendous Measurement Me,” which had a funds of simply $65,000, grossed an astonishing $22 million on the field workplace and scored an Oscar nomination for the Greatest Documentary in 2004. It additionally led to a sequel, “Tremendous Measurement Me 2: Holy Rooster!” in 2019, launched by Samuel Goldyn Movies after it was dropped by YouTube. A lot much less profitable, the film adopted Spurlock as he ran his personal fast-food restaurant and checked out ingredient sourcing, plus how the fast-food business has modified as an entire within the years since his first movie.

Since “Tremendous Measurement Me,” Spurlock produced and directed greater than 70 documentaries and tv collection via his manufacturing firm, Warrior Poets. Very similar to “Tremendous Measurement Me,” his works tried to handle controversial topics together with the minimal wage and immigrant labor within the tv collection “30 Days” and the warfare in Afghanistan “The place Within the World Is Osama Bin Laden.” He additionally directed the 3D live performance movie “One Course: This Is Us” which was launched in 2013.

“It was a tragic day, as we stated goodbye to my brother Morgan,” Spurlock’s brother Craig stated in an announcement. “Morgan gave a lot via his artwork, concepts, and generosity. As we speak the world has misplaced a real inventive genius and a particular man. I’m so proud to have labored along with him.”

In line with an announcement supplied by the household, Spurlock is survived by his two kids, Laken and Kallen; his mother and father; brothers Craig and Barry; a number of nieces and nephews; and his former spouses: Priscilla Sommer, Alexandra Jamieson, and Sara Bernstein.