The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2018–2023
Disney fired its Guardians director, then rehired him eight months later
A studio severed ties with the director of a $1.6 billion franchise in a sentence, watched him sign with the competition, then reinstated him.
Disney · Marvel Studios · 2018-07-20
What happened
On 20 July 2018 Disney fired James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy, after offensive jokes he had posted on Twitter years earlier resurfaced. Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn announced: 'The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.' Gunn said he understood and accepted the decision and took responsibility for his conduct.
Eight months later the studio reversed itself. On 15 March 2019 Disney reinstated Gunn as writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a decision confirmed by Marvel and Gunn's camp. The return was complicated by what had happened in between: Gunn had signed to write and direct the Suicide Squad sequel for Warner Bros, and Marvel agreed to start production on Vol 3 only after he finished it.
The film opened on 5 May 2023 and grossed $845.6 million worldwide. The director Disney fired and rehired delivered the franchise's third installment, and the measurable cost of the whole episode was the delay.
Why it happened
- Disney's statement made the decision sound final — 'we have severed our business relationship' — leaving no room for the apology the studio later accepted.
- The firing gave the director to the competition: in between, Gunn signed to write and direct the Suicide Squad sequel for Warner Bros, and Marvel had to wait its turn.
- The reversal had a schedule attached: production restarted only after Gunn finished his DC film, and Vol 3 opened nearly five years after the firing.
The lesson
A firing announced as final became a reversal eight months later: the studio severed ties in a sentence, then reinstated the same director — the only certain cost was the delay.
Aftermath
Vol 3 opened on 5 May 2023 and grossed $845.6 million worldwide. Gunn, who had spent the interval at Warner Bros writing and directing The Suicide Squad, was named co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran in October 2022, assuming the role on 1 November 2022 — while still delivering the Guardians trilogy for the studio that had fired him.
Sources
- Disney fires James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — CNN, 20 July 2018
- James Gunn reinstated as Guardians of the Galaxy 3 director — BBC News, 15 March 2019
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — Wikipedia
- James Gunn — Wikipedia
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