Too often, blockbusters fail because they were over-tweaked or straight-up remixed in post-production. While reshoots have always been a common part of the filmmaking process, they have now become a crutch for productions that don’t have a concrete plan in place before entering principal photography. More specifically, many comic book movies have been influenced by this approach, but James Gunn’s efforts for Marvel and DC have not been compromised by it.
According to the writer-director on Threads (via Variety ), he has created three Guardians of the Galaxy movies, a miniseries (I Am Groot), a holiday special, and Suicide With The Squad “sequel” as well as a spin-off series (“Peacemaker”), the secret is simply… making sure it’s as good as possible before filming. Sounds simple, right? Well, it seems like not everyone can or wants to figure that out.
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The filmmaker, who is currently busy in post-production on the second season of Peacemaker and the reboot of DC’s new screen sequel Superman, which he is helming, simply stated that he was “very excited about my past two films.” The movie took a total of one day of reshoots. Considering Superman is still in the early stages of post-production, we think he’s referring to the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and Suicide Squad, the film that earned him (along with Peacemaker) the DC Studios chief’s nod Position.
Of his creative process, he added: “1) over-prepare…, 2) not start filming until I’ve finished a script that the whole team is happy with, 3) hire actors and departments that I know can do their job Executive work, 4) surround myself with people who will challenge me and not just say “yes sir” to everything, 5) ask myself every day – are there any little flaws in the script or what we are filming , that might have ended up feeling like a huge flaw when we were editing the movie together? You have to admit, it was a neat game plan.
Whether or not they hit your mark on a conceptual level, it’s hard to argue that these films are creatively confusing or disjointed when watching them. Gunn’s vision is crystal clear and felt throughout their run, and the same goes for his recent efforts in television. This isn’t news either, as he adapted well to the “big studio system” in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, emerging from low-budget fare like Glide and Super. The fact that he’s managed to maintain this level of control and creative clarity across all of his work, while vastly increasing his output and tempo, is impressive and has us excited for the rebooted DCU hope.
Of course, having a “clear” vision when making such a massive production is easier said than done, and being “friendly” with the studio, producers, and other creatives involved also adds to the difficulty. Even the greatest directors often get into trouble because of the “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation. Gunn, for his part, seemed to have a knack for internal politics and adapting to feedback while staying true to the story he wanted to bring to the screen.
