'House of Cards' Director James Foley Dead at 71

James Foley -- a longtime Hollywood director who helmed two films in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy -- has died.

The movie industry veteran passed away earlier this week after a battle with brain cancer, a rep confirms.

Foley got his start back in the mid-1980s ... directing the feature film "Reckless" before making a name for himself directing music videos.

He directed numerous videos for Madonna ... bringing songs like "Live to Tell," "Papa Don't Preach," "True Blue" and many more to the TV screen.

Foley gained international recognition when he took David Mamet's critically acclaimed play "Glengarry Glen Ross" to the silver screen ... directing Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey and Jack Lemmon in the movie. Pacino received an Oscar nod for his role in the film.

In more recent years, Foley gained acclaim for directing the movies "Fifty Shades Free" and "Fifty Shades Darker." He also has credits for "Billions," "House of Cards," "Hannibal," "Perfect Stranger," "Fear" and "Twin Peaks."

According to IMDb, Foley was developing a series about Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev prior to his death ... unclear what will happen to that series now.

Foley was 71.