Director Doug Liman has confirmed the reasons for his departure from the DC Extended Universe film, Justice League Dark . In a recent interview, the filmmaker clarified that scheduling and ongoing commitments made it necessary for him to pass on shooting the movie, as well as the X-Men project Gambit.
Justice League Dark is the flip-side of the more famous Justice League, and consists of the more supernaturally-focused members of the DCU, handling situations deemed unfit for the more public superheroes. The team first appeared in the comic-books in 2011, and over the years the members of the group have included John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna, and many others. An animated film was recently released, but the proposed live-action DCEU movie has had a few problems in getting to the screen.
Liman was originally confirmed as the director up until a few weeks ago, and even recently teased that his version would be a really personal story, and miles away from the more spectacular DCEU films. However, it was revealed only a short time later that he had left the film and Warner Bros. was actively looking for a replacement.
In an interview with IGN, Liman further clarified the situation and confirms that there was no animosity between him and the studio. As previously suggested it was due to a full schedule and the desire by the studio to bring the team up to the big screen quicker. Of the situation Liman said:
"I was really excited by the characters and that world, but I’m doing Chaos Walking for Lionsgate next and then Tom [Cruise] and I are hoping to do the sequel to Edge of Tomorrow so it just became a scheduling nightmare ... That’s the problem with directing. Producers can do multiple films, you know? Directing is like being married!"
Following the original announcement, Warner Bros. reportedly has a short-list of directors that they are keen to work with, including Andres Muschietti (director of the forthcoming IT) and Argentine filmmaker Damián Szifron (director of Wild Tales). With rumors suggesting WB may want to fast-track the production of JLD for a 2018 release, it's hoped that a decision is made soon, shortly followed by casting announcements.
With Wonder Woman seemingly reinvigorating the DCEU with plenty of critical and commercial success, it may be the perfect time to develop a more "personal" and offbeat direction filled with "lesser known" characters whilst avoiding some of the perceived pitfalls of Suicide Squad.
In the meantime, Liman continues to work on Chaos Walking (with Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland), and there is a lot of anticipation over the sequel to Edge of Tomorrow. Although neither of those films has a release date yet, Screen Rant will keep you up to date on those, as well as further developments regarding Justice League Dark.
Source: IGN