James Gunn is 'unlikely' to be re-hired as director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3', despite repeated calls for his reinstatement, according to insiders.
Variety report that Disney - who removed Gunn from his post last month following unsavoury tweets from years ago that had re-surfaced - have no plans to re-hire him as they feel that the tweets were too risque for their family-friendly image in this era of #MeToo. Disney were reportedly 'taken aback' when the almost-decade-old tweets, which joked about rape, paedophilia, AIDS and the holocaust, were recirculated.
Despite the fact that the 'Guardians' cast - including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper - all signed their name to an open letter expressing their support for Gunn, they are unlikely to budge on the matter. In the letter, they said that they were looking forward to working 'with our friend James again in the future', although it's believed that none of them ever threatened to quit the film series - not least because they are under contract.
"I don’t see Disney re-hiring him," an insider is quoted as saying. "Those tweets were so horrible and Disney has a different standard than other studios."
A replacement for Gunn has yet to be announced, although the likes of Jon Favreau and Taika Waititi have been rumoured.
