Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was fired by Walt Disney Studios before he could direct the third installment of the franchise. Disney, who have a reputation for keeping a tight grip on its family friendly image, fired Gunn after the conservative website The Daily Caller published tweets that Gunn has written several years ago.
Even though the tweets were from before Gunn started working with Disney, the racist and homophobic nature of the jokes on Gunn’s twitter and the ensuing collective outrage, was enough for Disney to cut ties with the director.
But not everyone in Hollywood shares Disney’s commitment to family friendly entertainment and delicate sensibilities. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a plethora of studios and producers are willing to hire the ousted director in a second. “I’d work with him in a heartbeat,” said one unnamed studio executive. The executives are staying in the shadows for the moment since Gunn can’t pursue other options while his exit from Disney is still ongoing.
While we don’t know for sure who is going to take in Gunn, a lot of the industry’s big players are rumored to be interested. One of the possible studios is Warner Bros, leading to speculation that Gunn could be moving to the DC.
It’s not just studios who are on Gunn’s side in the issue. Star of Guardians of the Galaxy franchise Chris Pratt, along with the rest of the cast, released an open letter in support of the director and called for his reinstatement. Some actors went further, going as far as to say that they would quit if Gunn’s script wasn’t used for the next movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney still desires to use the script that Gunn wrote for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and the conflict over that is holding up his exit from the studio. If Disney ends up using the existing script, the cast will likely stay on but the studio will have to find someone else to direct the movie.
A lot of things are still up in the air as Disney continues to negotiate. But between the cast’s support, the interested studios, and Disney wanting to use his script, it is unlikely that Hollywood has heard the last of James Gunn.
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