In a purely broad stroke context, the DC Studios would not must be growing a Clayface film proper now. The DC Universe is just simply beginning to get on its toes, with Superman arriving in theaters this July as the primary blockbuster within the canon, and it is a peculiar transfer to make a solo movie a few Batman villain earlier than the introduction of the brand new Batman. The one purpose Clayface has been quick tracked in current months is due to the expressed excessive confidence within the screenplay written by Mike Flanagan… which is why I’m utterly confused by the newest information in regards to the venture’s growth.
Following rumors about behind-the-scenes adjustments that had been reported final week, The Wrap is now saying that screenwriter Hossein Amini has been employed to rewrite the script for Clayface. The movie nonetheless has director James Watkins hooked up, and there’s nonetheless a plan in place to have manufacturing begin this fall. Amini is a longtime expertise, greatest identified for writing the script for Drive starring Ryan Gosling, and his particular hiring has no precise impression on my take right here. What really befuddles me is that this transfer appears to go towards the event technique that has been exercised thus far by James Gunn and Peter Safran because the co-CEOs of DC Studios.
A couple of months in the past, I used to be a part of a bunch of journalists invited to attended a sit down with the filmmakers/executives as they previewed their progress with Chapter 1 of the DC Universe. One factor that was repeatedly harassed was a selected correlation between accomplished scripts and manufacturing begins. Briefly: if a screenplay is not working proper, it will not be rushed by means of growth merely to hit a focused launch date. Conversely, they defined that this was why Supergirl: Lady Of Tomorrow is now on monitor to come back out in 2026 and why Clayface had turn out to be a precedence.
They gushed in regards to the script that Mike Flanagan had offered them in regard to the latter. Gunn expressed that he and Safran “would have died to have produced this film” after they had been making impartial options like The Belko Experiment, and their great dedication to it stated rather a lot. For causes expressed earlier, Clayface is not a film that expressly must be made proper now, however they scheduled a begin of manufacturing and employed James Watkins to direct as a result of they felt it was a film price making.
Lower than three months later, I now do not know what’s going on, and my anticipation for Clayface is all however utterly shattered. Mike Flanagan is one in all my favourite filmmakers making motion pictures and TV at this time, and I used to be stoked for the grotesque, R-rated physique horror film set throughout the DC Universe that was promised. However after this newest information, I’ve no expectations in any respect and subsequently no actual anticipation or pleasure. The entire “why” of the manufacturing has turn out to be a thriller, and that is disheartening to say the least.
I am not immature sufficient to attempt to kick begin some form of motion or create a petition that sees Clayface return to working with what Flanagan had created (if not particularly as a result of it is not a script I’ve learn), however till some readability is obtainable, my confidence about what is going on on behind the scenes because the DC Universe grows has taken a major hit. It isn’t a terrific look to seemingly abandon a growth technique with the third function in a franchise
There’ll hopefully be extra details about the venture coming quickly, however till that point comes, hold checking in right here on CinemaBlend for all the newest large information about upcoming DC motion pictures and upcoming DC TV reveals.