James Gunn continues to debunk claims regarding his DCU reboot, although this time, the claim that is being debunked is coming from his own collaborators. The Philippou brothers met withDC Studiosand expressed that the meeting went “amazing” and they were even offered a DC project but turned it down to focus on creating original content.After the miscommunication between Gunn and Ben Affleck at their DC Studios meeting, with Gunn thinking Affleck was interested in being part of hisDC Universeonly for Affleck to come out and say the opposite, Gunn would want to be more careful about how information is interpreted. Even so, the shoe appears to be on the other foot now. The Philippou brothers may have misunderstood what was offered to them, at least according to Gunn, who admits to not being present during theDC Studios meeting with Danny and Michael Philippou.RELATED:James Gunn’s Creature Commandos Cast Adds Stars From Stranger Things And Game Of ThronesGunn expressed on Twitter that the Philippou directors met with some executives at their DC Studios meeting but never with himself or Peter Safran, clarifying that they were never offered a DC project. Gunn speculates that they may have turned down an opportunity to pitch ideas to the executives for a specific character, likewhat Matt Reeves did forThe Batmanand Todd Phillips forJoker. Gunn compares the situation to actors who often mistake being offered an audition for being offered a role, adding that communication had to have been lost in translation between the studio executives and the Philippou directors.
The Philippou brothers may have mistaken the idea of pitching a character for being offered the job, and under the presumption of things moving too fast, they denied the opportunity. However, this is only one side of the story as it pertains to Gunn’s own speculation with what the Philippous have previously expressed in their Instagram Live stream. It is also likely that the Philippou directors are well aware that they were only offered a pitch. However, while speaking in their livestream, it might have been easier to simplify it to being offered a project, thinking it would not have made a difference to their audience. In this case, the decision was the same for the Philippou brothers, as they were not interested inGunn’s plan for DC Studios, given the information coming out of the meeting.
There is also the unlikely scenario where the directing duo was offered a job, meaning Gunn is spinning the outcome of their meeting to elevate the perception ofDC Studiosduring thisdelicate time for the DC brandamid his franchise reboot. Either way, unless the Philippous decide to comment further, the story between Gunn and the A24 directors for a potential collaboration ends here, while their new horror film,Talk To Me, is around the corner.
