As both the UK and US head into a holiday weekend comes the rather shocking news that Marvel appears to have lost the director of one of its upcoming movies. Edgar Wright has long been associated with the Ant-Man project and filming was due to begin shortly after most of the main casting was completed. The actors involved currently include Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, with Evangeline Lilly. Patrick Wilson and Micheal Pena in other key roles.
However under the banner of the oft-used but non-descriptive 'creative differences', Wright has suddenly exited the project. The short statement came this afternoon and was precise and to the point:
"Marvel and Edgar Wright jointly announced today that the studio and director have parted ways on ANT-MAN due to differences in their vision of the film. The decision to move on is amicable and does not impact the release date on July 17, 2015. A new director will be announced shortly..."
'Shortly' will be in as little time as possible as, with the mid-2015 date still being held and the knowledge that such a film will require extensive FX-work and post-production, there is little time to waste. Marvel run a tight, well-organised and oiled machine when it comes to their movie plans and this news, seemingly out of nowhere, will see them moving quickly in both a pragmatic and damage-limitation exercise to keep things on track. The statement talks of an amicable parting, but its noticeable brevity, lack of specifics and eleventh-hour release as least indicates some drama behind the scenes, so one will be watching the subsequent fall-out with great interest...
