Guardians of the Galaxy may have landed a director. And that person is James Gunn, writer/director of Slither (2006) and Super (2010).
Before I get into any other details, I have to say that I’m beyond impressed with this choice. Marvel Studios is on a roll. The best decision they’ve made thus far is hiring Joss Whedon as their creative captain, having written and directed The Avengers (the most successful superhero film of all time) and rumored to have ghost written a few other Phase One Marvel films (so far we’ve only heard word that Whedon re-wrote a majority of Captain America: The First Avenger, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had in his hand in the other scripts).
Now they’re looking at James Gunn to helm a property that frankly is not a sure thing. When Guardians of the Galaxy was announced here exclusively on Latino-Review, then officially at Comic-Con, people gave a unanimous: “Huh – who, what?”
That’s okay. That’s great, in fact! The more I read about this property and its strange sundry characters, the more I get excited about the possibility of an epic space fantasy the likes of which we haven’t seen since the original Star Wars trilogy. Warner Bros.’ Green Lantern was the closest we’ve gotten to that scope of superhero telling, but we know how that turned out.
James Gunn is a fantastic choice for Guardians, both artistically and career-wise. Slither was a perfect comedic-horror amalgamation of EC Comics, 50′s paranoia science-fiction, and 80′s schlock. Super was the anti-Kick-Ass, an ass-backwards meditation on superheroes and self-esteem issues. Neither of his low-budget feature films have made much money, and he’s currently primed for a mega-successful directorial turn.
We’ll have to wait and see if it’s official. While Gunn is Marvel’s first choice, they have other directors in mind. Those include Peyton Reed (Yes Man, Bring It On) and the team Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden (Half Nelson).
A logline for Guardians was released earlier this week:
“A U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants.”
Let’s start a campaign — GUNN FOR ‘GUARDIANS’ 2014!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
