It looks like the search for a new director for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is going to be a lengthy one. It has been announced that production on the third film has been put on hold. Crew members, which were assembling for pre-production, are being dismissed and are free to look for new work.
The Marvel project was to have been directed by James Gunn and was to have begun principal photography in the winter, either in January or February. The project was crewing up and was to have gone into full pre-production mode in the fall. Plans to move on as scheduled hit a snag when Gunn was let go as the director in July when old tweets were resurfaced, likely in response to his vocal political posts. And while some held out hope that the director would be given a reprieve by Disney, a mid-August meeting with Disney chairman Alan Horn closed the door on that.
One person close to the project characterized the production hold as temporary and more of a “regrouping” as Marvel and Disney look for a filmmaker to take on the third installment of a franchise. How long that regrouping will take remains to be seen.
