Or, “So much for Mrs. Pitt!”
Not 15 minutes after I published the rumor that WB was lookin’ at Angelina Jolie to take Michelle MacLaren’s spot on WONDER WOMAN, and now the news has surfaced that they’ve signed a director who is…not Jolie.
Patty Jenkins, who made a big splash with the Oscar-winning MONSTER over a decade back, will helm WB’s tentpole. She hasn’t directed another feature in the interim, but has stayed busy directing episodes of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, ENTOURAGE, and THE KILLING (including that series’ pilot).
There’s irony in her replacing another female director on this superhero flick: you may remember that she was the original director set for THOR 2, before the same sort of vague “creative differences” led Marvel to replace her with Alan Taylor (which reportedly infuriated Natalie Portman, who it seems really pushed for Jenkins’ hire). Now, she’s crossing the aisle over into DC territory, making her the first big talent to do so since they announced their massive plans for the next half-decade.
Jenkins is a really strong choice. MONSTER showed that she has a talent for portraying women characters in a realistic, unglamourized way (which led to Charlize Theron’s Best Actress Oscar that year). However, like MacLaren, most of her credits are in TV, so she’s clearly adept at jumping in and playing with someone else’s train-set, so to speak. If she has the kind of street cred that would make Portman go to the mat for her, then getting her onboard is a big credibility booster for the project; quick save, after MacLaren’s departure spelled not-great-things for WB/DC’s ability to nurture talent that didn’t start with a “Z” and end in “nyder”.
I know some of you don’t think that a WONDER WOMAN neccessarily should be directed by a lady, but if it gives Ms. Jenkins her first big gig since MONSTER, it can only be a good thing, no? Especially if it manages to contain the rawness and bravery of that film.
WONDER WOMAN may or may not shoot a bunch of guys in cars on June 23rd, 2017.
