Who Is David Jones? 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' Tribute, Explained
The end credits for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania include a tribute to David Jones, a visual effects supervisor who worked on the original Star Wars film. Jones died on April 8, 2022, after a battle with cancer. Quantumania hit theaters over the weekend and opened at the top of the box office.
Jones died at his home in Winnetka, California, his ex-wife and lifelong friend, Janice Gerson-Jones, told Variety in April 2022. He was 74. Jones is also survived by his son, Hunter.
Jones was born in Sacramento and was raised on Air Force bases in Alaska and Illinois. He developed an interest in model airplanes at a young age and earned a bachelor of science in industrial design from Cal State Long Beach. After graduating, he started working in the film industry in model shops and rose the ranks to become a visual effects supervisor by the end of his career. He worked with Industrial Light & Magic, Universal Heartland, and Boss Film Studios.
In 1977, Jones built models seen in Star Wars and worked on Close Encounters of the Third Kind and episodes of Space Academy. His other credits include Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Hunt for Red October, Alien3, Batman Returns, Air Force One, Starship Troopers, and Team America World Police. In 1996, he earned a Primetime Emmys nomination for Oustanding Visual Effects for Space: Above and Beyond.
Jones also worked on commercials, including the Budweiser Super Bowl commercials in 1989 and 1990. He worked with Disney Parks on the Choose Your Tomorrow film for the beloved Horizons ride at EPCOT. At the end of the ride, visitors chose one of three endings to see, all of which were filmed at the Burbank airport.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hit theaters on Friday, and scored the first $100 million debut of 2023. The movie is expected to finish with between $118 million and $120 million through President's Day on Monday. The film also made $121 million at the international box office, although it only made $19.2 million in China.
Quantumania begins the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 5 and introduced the villain Kang played by Jonathan Majors. Although the film earned mostly negative reviews from critics, it had the best opening among the three Ant-Man movies. The film earned a B CinemaScore from audiences.