Warner Bros. is actively seeking out a new director for Justice League Dark and have reportedly targeted IT director Andres Muschietti. After appearing to have a stronghold on the film, Doug Liman left Justice League Dark due to scheduling conflicts with Chaos Walking. This marks another loss for the DCEU, but the decision appears to have been made in order to bring the team up to the big screen quicker. Rather than wait on Liman's schedule to clear up, WB is interested in finding a replacement to help move the project forward.

Even though the announcement of Liman leaving is just now breaking, it is likely WB, DC Films, Geoff Johns, and others have known about his departure for a little bit. This heads up has allowed them to start thinking of potential replacements and find possible candidates to follow in Liman's footsteps (but stick around this time). As of right now, their current target is none other than the director of the upcoming IT reboot.

THR's Borys Kit revealed this to be the case on Twitter as he sent out a series of tweets following the news of Liman's departure. While he stresses the search is still ongoing and the "shortlist" has more names than just Muschietti onboard, his name being the lone to surface could indicate he is the studio's top choice as of this moment. However, the more interesting thing will be to see if his name continues to remain in the mix or if someone else can swoop in and get the job.

Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise in the IT remake

If Muschietti truly is being considered by WB at the early point in this process, how high up on the list he becomes could depend on how well IT does later this year. The trailers for IT have been received with incredible praise so far and even holds the record for most watched trailer of all-time in the span of 24 hours. If the reviews and box office returns can build on this excitement, it would make plenty of sense from WB's perspective to bring Muschietti into the fold.

His addition would be the latest instance of an up and coming director landing a big budget franchise, and also follow in the footsteps of fellow horror directors Scott Derrickson and James Wan taking on properties that they can put their own twist on. As the general public does not know much about John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Zatanna, Deadman, and Etrigan the Demon, Muschietti should have the freedom to craft these characters as he sees fits (should he get the job), all while invigorating the DCEU with some horror.

As good as a fit that Muschietti may be on paper, we will have to wait and see whether or not he is able to come out of these potential meetings with the job. If he does, it remains to be seen how quickly the project will come together as he still needs to finish IT before worrying about Justice League Dark's script, casting, and eventual production.

Next: Are Villains The Future of The DCEU’s Success?

Source: Borys Kit

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