Gehele Guardians cast wil James Gunn terug voor Vol. 3

Tien dagen geleden werd de filmwereld opgeschrikt door het nieuws dat Walt Disney Studios schrijver/regisseur James Gunn had ontslagen van de aankomende sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Het besluit kwam nadat de transgressieve Tweets van de regisseur uit 2009-2012 waren opgegraven, tweets die eerder een controverse in 2012 hadden aangewakkerd. Nu heeft de gehele hoofdcast, namelijk Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff en Michael Rooker, een open brief geschreven waarin ze hun steun laten zien aan de regisseur en willen ze dat hij weer terug in de regiestoel komt te zitten voor Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Hier is de eerste paragraaf:

“We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss. In that time, we’ve been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him.”

Je kunt de gehele statement hieronder lezen:

If you please, read the statement written and signed by The Guardians of the Galaxy cast in support of James Gunn’s reinstatement as director of GOTG Volume 3. pic.twitter.com/TjNA9RF6M8

— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 30, 2018

Dit was de reactie van James Gunn ten tijde van zijn ontslag:

“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. Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then. All I can do now, beyond offering my sincere and heartfelt regret, is to be the best human being I can be: accepting, understanding, committed to equality, and far more thoughtful about my public statements and my obligations to our public discourse. To everyone inside my industry and beyond, I again offer my deepest apologies. Love to all.”

Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn zei het volgende: 

“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.”

Eerder dit jaar onthulde regisseur James Gunn dat Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020 zou worden uitgebracht.