Earlier this week we learned Michelle MacLaren decided to walk away from Warner Bros.‘ Wonder Woman, with the studio citing “creative differences”, and now that Patty Jenkins has been hired as MacLaren’s replacement any discussion about her vision for the film can really only dabble in what could have been. So… what could it have been?
According to Variety, MacLaren hoped to make Wonder Woman in the vein of Braveheart, an epic origin tale with a large-scale, action-packed production. Warners, on the other hand, apparently wanted a more character-driven piece, which I only assume is for the sake of “world building”, something that is all the rage with the studios these days.
Per Variety, “After [screenwriter] Jason Fuchs delivered his script, the studio put as many as five other writers on the project to work up various scripts while executives simultaneously tested story concepts.” Five writers feels like a lot to me, but then, I’ve never tried to put together a Hollywood blockbuster, especially not one that is but a piece of a larger cinematic multiverse. Still, the quote provides an interesting look at how these films are developed, which I always appreciate.
Ultimately it seems Warners didn’t trust MacLaren to carry out her vision, in part because she had only ever directed for the small-screen and was “unaccustomed to the laborious development process associated with making movies.” Now maybe that’s true, but she did direct a few episodes of “Game of Thrones” so she can’t be a complete noob, can she? As far as Wonder Woman is concerned, I guess we’ll never know.
