Kicked off with Man Of Steel, Warner Brothers has been working to establish its own cinematic universe on the coat tails of Marvel’s massive success. Next year will see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. Further movies are planned, including Justice League films and stand alone entries for each of its members.
Many were excited when director Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones) signed on to the project, as it showed an effort on the part of Warner’s to find a talented female director that could craft a story that did justice (pun intended) to the character. Unfortunately, late last night news broke that she has left the project.
Why did she leave?
“Creative Differences,” the studio said in a statement.
… What does that mean?
It could mean many things. The most innocent meaning is that she and the studio simply had different creative views for the project and couldn’t find a middle ground. A less optimistic outlook could be that MacLaren felt like she had very little creative input on the story and decided to leave. Worst case scenario? She hated where the project was going and decided to jump ship before she was responsible for a bomb.
On the flip side, Warner Bros. may have seen where she was taking the project and thought it wasn’t the movie people wanted to see.
Which one is it?
There’s really no way to know for sure until we hear more.
What will Warner Bros. do now?
Before they settled on MacLaren, it’s a safe bet that they had a short list of directors they were considering for the project. They may return to that and see if anyone on the list is interested in taking the director’s chair before searching out new possibilities.
Who’s on the list?
Again, it’s impossible to say. It’s a fair bet they will stick with a female director, but there are sadly very few in the business. The two biggest names who might be considered are Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) and Angelina Jolie (Unbroken), but that is speculation. The movie is still scripting and isn’t set to shoot until next year, so Warner Bros. has plenty of time to find someone else.
Alright. Warner Bros. seemed covered. What Will Michelle MacLaren Do?
Many are hoping that Marvel will scoop her up to direct Captain Marvel, a project for which they just announced the writers. It wouldn’t be unprecedented, as Marvel has a habit of picking up very talented people who have yet to reach the A-list.
In fact, Marvel has pulled a similar move when they hired Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor to shoot Thor: The Dark World. One thing is certain: she’s a talented filmmaker who won’t have any trouble finding work in the coming days.
