How James Gunn took The Suicide Squad over the top

James Gunn Updates: DC hit Suicide Squad Franchise is set for another remake from the Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. The final battle sequence was shot on an outdoor set in Atlanta, where Idris Elba pretends to shoot a futuristic gun. He was filming the action sequence with Margot Robbie, Daniela Melchior, and David Dastmalchian in that set.

The film will be on Theatres and on HBO Max on August 6. The set also contained a military vehicle and dozens of uniformed soldiers for the shoot of the Warner Bros’.  latest DC superhero extravaganza. James Gunn was in his video tent with a huge grin on his face. He stated that he felt like he has been making independent movies with the Guardians of the Galaxy films as this film was gigantic.

The Suicide Squad being remake by James Gunn might feel a little strange and out of the context. The Original Suicide Squad (2016) film was directed by David Ayer and it was subjected to huge rework by Warner Bros.

Although the film grossed nearly $746 million around the globe, it wasn’t as successful as it was expected. The story of the original film is about a group of peculiar prisoners who work for a secret Government agency in return for a reduction in their prison sentences.

James Gunn was at the height of his career when Marvel decided to fire him. When James Gunn came out of Marvel his career was to put to test and he thought it was over for him. EW asked James about his way into DC films and James simply said, “I got fired by Marvel”.

James Gunn: Special Touch to the Movies

The Guardian

James Gunn released hit movies with 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy and its 2017 sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol-2. Unfortunately, he was fired from Marvel on July 20, 2018, because of his Tweet posted a decade ago. He tweeted about rape and sexual molestation jokes and it was accused that he was cut loose from offensive attitudes and statements.

A man who delivered a massive hit with obscure comic-book characters and with a sitcom actor Chris Pratt was faced with a nightmare of being fired from Marvel. Gunn said that he knew this was happening and soon he apologized for the tweets. He remarked that his days of saying something just because it is shocking were over.

James was not interested in remaking the well know movies like Man of Steel or Justice League. He felt that those movies are well-known to the audience and there is nothing more to venture into. However, he found Suicide Squad was a fun playground to venture and it was also on the Warner Bros. Bucket list. Warner Bros. wanted a new version of Suicide Squad after its financial success in 2016, says Charles Roven.

James Gunn wanted his Suicide Squad film to be a War-Caper movie like The Dirty Dozen and Kelly’s Heroes. So, he included several characters from Ayer’s film along with other villains from DC comics. The notable difference between the two Suicide Squad films is, Ayer’s film was set in the U.S whereas Gunn’s film is set in the fictional South American island state of Corto Maltese.

The characters Gunn added from the Ayer’s Suicide Squad include Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman’s Colonel Rick Flag, Viola Davis’ Squad-­overseeing Amanda Waller, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang. Unlike the previous one, James’s film is very much a standalone movie concentrating on the members of the squad.

James wanted this film to be a Unique, violent, and bloodshed one. He told Warner Bros. that this film would be R-rated and not PG-13 like Ayer’s film. Although the studio seemed a little off, they eventually agreed.

The shooting for the film began in September 2019 and Gunn was rocking with the movies. Steve Agee a former collaborator with James pointed out that James is less stressed out on this movie. James’ previous like Guardians of the Galaxy series has yielded nearly 1.5 billion around the globe. For Horn from Disney studios, it made total sense to let James Gunn direct the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol-3. So he was rehired by the Marvel studios.

James Gunn took utmost care in the selection of his cast for the movie. The cast members for the movie include Michael Rooker as the Vigilante, Sean Gunn to give a motion-capture performance for the human-size rodent Weasel, Daniela Melchoir as the Ratcatcher, and Ant-man actor Dastmalchian as Polka-dot man. The director opted for John Cena for the Homicidal Peacemaker character after Dave Bautista turned down the offer.

Gunn said that his upbeat attitude throughout the production is solely fueled by his love for his cast. He even was afraid of Oscar winner Viola Davis, but she turned out to be the sweetest person in the cast. As a whole James Gunn’s Suicide Squad will be a Blast.

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