20th Century Fox Greater China Managing Director Tu Ming passed away on Sunday morning of bone cancer, at the age of 47.

The Taiwan-born executive joined 20th Century Fox Taiwan Office in 2003 and has handled several hits including Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Mr and Mrs Smith in Taiwan. He was promoted as Fox Greater China managing director in 2009 and has successfully boosted box office takings of several Fox releases such as Ice Age 3 and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. He was also credited for the outstanding performance of Avatar in Greater China, with it taking more than $200m in mainland China.

in adidtion to marketing and distribution, Tu is also personally involved in several Chinese-language productions such as John Woo’s Red Cliff, Taiwanese filmmaker Su Chao-pin’s Silk, Chang Tso-chi’s When Love Comes and Yeh Tian-lun’s Night Market Hero. 20th Century Fox Taiwan handled the distribution of Night Market Hero and the film became the highest grossing film in Taiwan in 2010 and the third-highest-grossing Taiwanese film in the history.

“I still cannot believe that he’s gone. He is such a good man, but leaves us so early,” John Woo told Taiwanese media upon hearing Tu’s death.

Tu was diagnosed with bone cancer in April 2010 but continued to work at Fox, only taking time off for an operation and several rounds of chemotherapy treatments. The condition was under control until March when the cancer returned.

A memorial ceremony for Tu Ming will be held in Taipei on June 10.

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