The Shallows Jaume Collet-Serra had emerged as the frontrunner to direct Suicide Squad 2, and it seemed like he was already chosen as the choice for the next installment of the 2016 Warner Bros DC film. Here comes the news that the director has left the project to instead direct Dwayne Johnson's latest blockbuster "Jungle Cruise."
Warner Bros. had looked at a number of filmmakers, especially Mel Gibson, but sources had said that Collet-Sera was who the studio wanted. Are they going to be going back to Gibson? Who knows, but here's another dent to the ongoing saga of "Suicide Squad 2."
I don't think this is a terrible loss, Collet-Sera is not the second coming as far as filmmaker go, and this gives the studio a chance to hopefully nab a more talented director to helm the project. The problem has and has always been the fact that it will be rated PG-13, a rating which "Suicide Squad" purists insist doesn't do the original comic book justice.
Deadline:
"Jaume Collet-Serra has been set by Disney to direct Dwayne Johnson in Jungle Cruise. This means that Collet-Serra will withdraw from Suicide Squad 2, the Warner Bros sequel for which he was top choice. After directing a bunch of hit movies that included last summer’s sleeper The Shallows, Collet-Serra has been poised to take that step to star filmmaker, and numerous studios chased his next slot. He decided that the opportunity to originate a new Indiana Jones-like action-adventure franchise in lockstep with one of the most globally bankable film stars — like Gore Verbinski did with Johnny Depp in The Pirates of the Caribbean — was a better opportunity than continuing a storyline originated by another director. Production will begin late next spring."