James Gunn Reveals the First Time He Pulled the Plug on a DCU Movie & Why

James Gunn, the creative mind behind Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, is now steering the ship at DC Studios, and he’s already made some bold moves. In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, Gunn opened up about how he’s trying to bring real change to the way superhero movies are made, including one particularly tough decision: pulling the plug on a DCU film before it was even shot.

While Superman just had a massive $125 million opening weekend in the U.S., Gunn says not everything in the new DC universe is going as planned. In fact, one film, greenlit and in development, was scrapped completely. Why? Because the script just wasn’t working.

“We had a screenplay… we got to the second draft, third draft, and it just wasn’t changing,” Gunn told NPR. “It wasn’t getting better. It was staying in the same place. And I said, ‘We can’t make this film. We know it’s not good.’”

He explained that although they had strong talent attached, both a respected director and a skilled screenwriter, he couldn’t let the project go forward knowing the story wasn’t coming together.

“Just because we have a good director and a good screenwriter doesn’t mean the script is working,” he said. “Everyone is going to be upset at the end of this. The movie’s not going to be good. The director’s going to look bad, the writer’s going to look bad, and we’re going to look bad. So I don’t want to have this. We’re not going to make the movie.”

Gunn didn’t name the project, but his remarks have sparked speculation. Many believe the canceled film might be The Authority, which was part of DC’s announced Gods & Monsters slate but hasn’t had many updates since. Gunn only said that the writer involved in the scrapped film was moved to another DCU project and is now doing great work there.

“I moved the writer on to another project in the DCU that I think he’s really killing right now,” Gunn added.

The decision to shut down a greenlit film is rare in Hollywood. Gunn pointed out how unusual it is, especially in a system where projects often move forward simply to meet release dates, even when the scripts aren’t finished.

“Literally 80% of the time that a big movie is being made, they’re finishing the scripts while the movie is being shot,” Gunn said. “It’s terrible. The movies are bad. It has to be script-based.”

Gunn also spoke about the broader state of the movie industry. He believes the quality of many superhero films has suffered because of poor writing and rushed production schedules. He blamed a system driven by deadlines and marketing over storytelling.

He’s determined to change that at DC, starting with a renewed focus on the writers.

“The writer is important. The writer needs to get paid the appropriate amount. The writer needs to be a part of the process,” he said.

And while he knows canceling a film might ruffle feathers, Gunn made it clear he’s not interested in making movies just to please people in the studio.

“For all the talk of the movie business being so based on dollars and cents, it is based on ‘like me, like me, like me,’” he said. “People don’t want to be not liked. They don’t want to let people down. And it’s terrible. It’s not good for anyone.”

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