James Gunn working on top-secret horror film with Sony set to release in November
Director James Gunn's secret horror project has been scheduled for official release from Sony on November 30. Although Gunn is only a producer, the film is repeatedly being credited with his name.
The film will be executive produced by Brian and Mark Gunn, Dan Clifton, and The H Collective’s Nic Crawley. Gunn had earlier teased the project at this year's SDCC, following which he was fired by Disney and the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise after controversy erupted surrounding some old inappropriate Twitter posts of his.
Gunn was sacked as the director of the third Guardians film after a series of controversial past tweets about rape and pedophilia resurfaced. Gunn then took to Twitter to apologize for the tweets. In the series of tweets he stated that though he was guilty of what he had done earlier, he would not torment his present self for the mistakes of his past.
"Anyway, that’s the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don’t anymore. I don’t blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all."
The Daily Caller reported that since 2008 Gunn has made a chain of racial comments, stated anti-semitic, homophobic views, and rape-related remarks on his Twitter account. It also mentioned a tweet where Gunn describes an incident where his friend had witnessed a sexual assault between a kid and a monkey. He wrote, "The trainer was too late. It only took the monkey a few seconds to bring himself to completion. A string of semen shot out of the mini-monkey-wood and splash-landed DIRECTLY ON THE KID. I know it might be sick, but that story makes me extremely happy."
As such controversial statements began to surface, Disney took the decision to sack the director. Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said in a statement, "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him."
In his own statement, Gunn, however, expressed regret for his past behavior and stated that he would be a better human being. "My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative...I have regretted them for many years since — not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don't reflect the person I am today or have been for some time."
While it is unlikely that Gunn will be re-hired by Disney, he had probably started working on the new Sony project back in 2017, as mentioned by Variety. The film, which is being produced for the production company The H Collection, will see Gunn collaborating once again with the 'Guardians Inferno' director, David Yarovesky -- Gunn's longtime collaborator.
Although very less is known about the film, it will certainly see Gunn reunite with his 'Slither' actress Elizabeth Banks. In a statement, Gunn said, "Elizabeth and I have been on the same artistic page since we first met when she auditioned for Slither back in 2005. She’s since remained one of my best friends in the world, and I’ve been fighting tooth and nail to work with her again. She’s the perfect partner to Yarvo, the H Collective and myself in creating this very special project.”