You might want to pull up a chair, because this one could take a while. It's now been two weeks since Edgar Wright vacated the director's chair of Marvel's Ant-Man, which sent the studio scrambling to fill his spot in time to start production next month. At this point, the studio still hasn't found one, though several directors have come and gone, entering and leaving negotiations rather quickly. After Wright left, three names emerged: Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers), Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Gangster Squad), and Rawson Marshall Thurber (We're The Millers). The next day, McKay entered final negotiations and we all began preparing for what kind of Ant-Man movie he would bring. Well, those hopes were quashed the very next morning, when he dropped out of negotiations, supposedly passing on the project due to scheduling conflicts. So, the studio turned to Thurber, who also passed. Shortly thereafter, Fleischer took his name out of the running, likely not wanting anything to do with Marvel's sloppy thirds. So, two more names were thrown into the ring on Wednesday: Neighbors director Nicholas Stoller, and What If director Michael Dowse. Shortly after that news broke, we heard reports that Stoller's involvement was actually "unfounded." Are you still with me? Good. Because Friday night, two more names were tossed into the running: Down With Love director Peyton Reed, and Wet Hot American Summer and Role Models director David Wain. Of the two new names, Reed has been cited as the frontrunner and will likely get the job. In fact, he almost directed the first Fantastic Four movie over a decade ago, but 20th Century Fox passed on his unique vision for the film and went with Tim Story's infamous take instead. Wain, on the other hand, has worked with Rudd three times now, so that gives him a leg up on the competition. Rudd is likely unhappy now that his film has been derailed and the director he signed on for in the first place, Edgar Wright, has abandoned the project. Now that we're going into the weekend, we likely won't hear any developments. So, keep a weather eye on the site as we'll have the final decision posted as soon as it's announced.
James is a 24 year old writer and filmmaker living in Portland, OR. He attended college for graphic design and writes for various sources on the web about film, television, and entertainment.
You can view all of his work on his website, www.thereeljames.wordpress.com
