The hunt is still on for a replacement for Edgar Wright, as Adam McKay backs out of directing Ant-Man...
Marvel, it would be fair to say, has a problem on its hands. Firstly, there was losing director Edgar Wright from Ant-Man weeks before the start of filming (with Wright having developed and co-written the film, having been attached to it for nearly a decade). And now, its latest choice of director for the project has also turned down the chance to make Ant-Man.
Adam McKay had emerged over the past few days as the frontrunner for the job, and over the weekend, many sources reported that he was in negotiations to take over Ant-Man. But McKay has now turned the film down, Tweeting the following...
And yes, met w/Marvel. Kirby & Lee r my Lennon Mccartney so it was awesome. But have other projects I'm committed to. Not sure it can work.
— Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) May 31, 2014
Where that leaves Marvel now is anyone's guess. It remains committed - for now - to a July 17th 2015 release date. The other names on the shortlist were reportedly Dodgeball's Rawson Marshall Thurber and Zombieland's Ruben Fleischer. It may turn to one of those, or else it may be moving towards what seems to be its last resort, delaying the film.
Paul Rudd and the rest of the cast remain attached (having signed up for a film with a different director and a different script by the sounds of it). We'll keep you posted as to what happens next...
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As I mentioned in the other story about this director search ... this movie is working towards becoming a disaster waiting to happen.
All the moving parts of these production revolve around the director and now they are trying to make that change mid-process. There are a lot of things you can make last minute changes on in these projects. But major script changes and director changes are not really in that list.
Look at this announcement ... Most good directors are in demand and are therefore, booked. So Disney/Marvel is likely to have to make a decision. Either push the date(which they seem completely unwilling to do) or accept a last-minute rushed production with a lesser-known director.
The latter-choice does not fill me with expectation of greatness. This is lining up to be the exception to these Disney/Marvel movies in that this one will be a slight disappointment(at the least).
I'm sure Brett Ratner or Paul WS Anderson would be able and willing.