Now that Michelle MacLaren has swiftly vacated the director’s chair for WONDER WOMAN, WB’s on the hunt for a new female director. And it appears that they might be looking at someone Marvel was also reportedly gunning for…
An unconfirmed rumor (sourced at Collider) proclaims that Angelina Jolie, who was already rumored for the CAPTAIN MARVEL gig, is a frontrunner to take MacLaren’s spot on WW.
All of this is heavily dependent on whether her film AFRICA actually goes into production this summer. Skydance Productions have reportedly scaled back their financial commitment to the project, putting it in flux if no one else ponies up the dough.
If it falls through, it's possible that she'd want to jump feet-first into a sure thing with lots of ancillary perks, like these two wannabe franchise-starters. Given the lukewarm critical and financial reception to her first two features, IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY and UNBROKEN, it’s not a stretch that she’d be inclined to take a high-profile gig with either Marvel or WB/DC to cement herself as a big noise on the directing front.
However, her work thus far has been on more ambitious, high-minded projects, and its possible she has absolutely no interest in working with a big studio on their superhero tentpole(s). Ms. Jolie can live many lifetimes on what she’s made (and what she’s yet to make) simply starring in the occasional blockbuster (not to mention what Pappy Pitt has squirreled away), so there’s not that much financial incentive for her to “sell-out”, as she (and others up for the position) may think of it.
Still, both WB and Marvel seem positively dead-set on getting a female for the director’s chair, so Jolie’s certainly got the clout and pro-feminist image to land her on both of their dream lists. Getting her on the marketing run would, indeed, be a huge asset in getting people aware and excited about the film, even without her actually starring in it. Now, let’s see if the former Lara Croft actually has interest in either job (given that her own movie doesn’t make it to production).
Our own Head Geek chimed in on this subject:
It has been written… @headgeek666 @lexialex pic.twitter.com/IbcUXKVouL
— deanand (@deanand) April 15, 2015
WONDER WOMAN is a Prince on June 23rd, 2017, while CAPTAIN MARVEL will marvel us by being marvelous on November 2nd, 2018.
