As one female-fronted superhero film begins to get its building blocks into place, another one hits a big snag.
In the first of two reports from THR, Marvel Studios is negotiating with screenwriters Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out) to pair up for their 2018 release Captain Marvel.
Perlman became a hot name in Hollywood after the massive success of Guardians, and holds the distinction of being Marvel’s first female screenwriter. LeFauve’s Inside Out is also being held as the next great hope in reviving the somewhat sagging critical response that Pixar films have received in the past few years.
Apparently, they had two different takes on Carol Danvers big debut, but Kevin Feige was so taken with them both that he thought they should team up on the final script. No director has been attached as of yet, but Marvel has been making a concerted effort to find a female filmmaker.
Perlman is repped by CAA and Management 360, LeFauve by Verve. Captain Marvel is scheduled to be released on July 6, 2018.
Sadly, it isn’t all good news this evening, as it was just announced that Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones) has left Wonder Woman over “creative differences”.
MacLaren’s involvement was easily one of the more exciting developments of the Warner Bros/DC film slate. The film is still scheduled to be released in 2017, so there’s still time to get another filmmaker in place, but it’s hard to not be reminded of the Patti Jenkins situation with Thor: The Dark World and the poor results that eventually produced with Alan Taylor at the helm.
Hopefully Warner Bros will be able to course correct. Some have suggested that perhaps MacLaren should jump ship and helm Captain Marvel, but the truth of the matter is, a filmmaker looking for creative freedom probably should avoid big tentpole superhero films altogether.
” … but the truth of the matter is, a filmmaker looking for creative freedom probably should avoid big tentpole superhero films altogether.”
Quite true. As someone tweeted today, the superhero-movie strategy seems to be: “Hire interesting director to build buzz, then fire director to maintain control.”
Of as film critic Matt Zoller Seitz said: “The James Bond films and the Marvel films have the same kind of director problem. Producers want a little personality but not too much.”
The ideal superhero director is someone who is content to make sure the actors hit their marks and speak their lines clearly, and that’s all. Not someone who gets involved in the creative aspects. In other words, a 1960s or ’70s TV director.
This is good news! I suspect Jenkins will be just what the movie needs.
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