Studio interference has long been the bane of any auteur filmmaker. According to James Gunn though, it’s a thing of the past at DC. While almost every studio gets involved with the production of their big-budget films in a way their directors might not appreciate, DC has a history of going a little bit overboard.
Perhaps the most notorious example of this is when Zack Snyder stepped away from a DC project. He was in the middle of working on Justice League when Snyder quit; the studio then brought in Joss Whedon to finish the film. Of course, everyone had a hard time adjusting to the changes, Whedon included. It had the effect of derailing the entire production, and the editors had to piece together new and old footage to create a functioning story after bringing all of the actors back in for reshoots. As we all know, the end result wasn’t exactly super. Luckily, Zack Snyder was able to release his own cut of the film. As it stands now, the original cut has a 6.1 on IMDb, while Snyder’s has an 8.0.
A fan reached out to James Gunn on the social media platform Mastodon, voicing his concerns about studio interference at DC.
“@jamesgunn As long as the studio doesn’t override you and your directors at every turn, I for one have confidence that you’ll actually be making decisions for the DCU that I can get onboard with. In my opinion (worth exactly nothing) it was studio interference that derailed the previous attempt at a DCU. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Mr. Johns was quite frustrated.”
Gunn replied to quell his fears, replying “The position is different than it was with Zack, etc. Peter & I are the heads of DC Studios. The only studio interference would be from us!”
As you can see, it seems like we’re in for a much purer vision of what the DC universe can be. Ideally, any changes that James Gunn makes would be welcome.
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