The fallout from James Gunn’s firing continues. After a tumultuous month that culminated in Disney chief Alan Horn doubling down on the decision to part ways with James Gunn after a series of offensive tweets from years ago were brought to light, it would appear that the studio is shutting down Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 for the time being.
The Marvel movie, which has never officially had a release date attached, was expected to go into production in early 2019, for a spring/summer 2020 release. Pre-production was about to get underway in Atlanta, with what The Hollywood Reporter describes as “a small group prepping” the earliest stages of the movie. Instead, they’ve been told to go home, and that they can look for work elsewhere, since it doesn’t appear that Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 will get moving any time soon.
This certainly doesn’t mean that the movie has been canceled, merely that “the timeline has been pushed out,” according to one of THR‘s sources.
But it would appear that any hope of seeing the Guardians trilogy completed by 2020 is fading fast. Disney will need to find a director confident enough to step into Gunn’s shoes without imitating his style. Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi’s name keeps coming up as a possible replacement in fan conversations, and after his colourful, irreverent take on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s easy to see why, but at the moment, it isn’t clear if he’s a serious option.
Gunn had done considerable work on the script for the film, and there hasn’t been any word yet if his firing means that the studio will look to start fresh with a new one. Complicating matters further is the cast’s open support for the embattled director, with Dave Bautista being particularly vocal and pointed in his criticism of the studio.
More on the story as we hear it.