When Marvel Studios called Alan Taylor to talk to him about “Thor: The Dark World,” the filmmaker was on top of the world. He previously helmed multiple episodes of “The Sopranos,” earning rave reviews. Taylor followed that up with some of the biggest episodes of “Game of Thrones,” proving he was capable of delivering epic scope, even on a TV budget. But once he signed on for “Thor: The Dark World” and followed that up with “Terminator: Genisys,” Taylor isn’t shy about saying the response to those films almost ended his career.
Speaking to THR, Alan Taylor hyped up the impending release of his return to the world of ‘Sopranos’ in “The Many Saints of Newark.” And though he described ‘Many Saints’ as his “most difficult” project to date, it appears his experiences with ‘Thor 2’ and his ‘Terminator’ reboot weren’t exactly walks in the park.
As mentioned, when Marvel Studios signed Taylor to helm, “Thor: The Dark World,” he was replacing Patty Jenkins, who left the film over creative differences. Describing the situation with the superhero film, it appears Taylor had an original vision for the film but things changed while in production and then in the editing bay that derailed what he had planned.
“The version I had started off with had more childlike wonder; there was this imagery of children, which started the whole thing,” Taylor said about his original version of ‘Dark World.’ “There was a slightly more magical quality. There was weird stuff going on back on Earth because of the convergence that allowed for some of these magical realism things. And there were major plot differences that were inverted in the cutting room and with additional photography — people [such as Loki] who had died were not dead, people who had broken up were back together again. I think I would like my version.”
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“I really admire the skill set of somebody who can go in with a very personal vision — like [‘Thor 3‘ director] Taika Waititi or James Gunn — and manage to combine it with the big corporate demands,” he added. “I think my skill set may be different.”
From ‘Dark World,’ Taylor immediately signed on to helm the big-budget ‘Terminator’ reboot, “Terminator: Genisys.” And though there were obvious issues with the script, the director was sure he could turn in something good.
“All the voices in my head, and all the ones around me, were saying I should do it because who didn’t love the first two films?” he explained. “I thought we would go in and fix the script and everything could be great.”
READ MORE: ‘Terminator: Genisys’ Writer Explains What Was Planned For The Unproduced Trilogy
Obviously, history tells the tale. In the case of Taylor, both ‘Dark World’ and ‘Genisys’ are generally disliked by both critics and fans. And both films were only moderately successful at the box office. This led to a dark time for Taylor.
“I had lost the will to make movies,” Taylor said. “I lost the will to live as a director. I’m not blaming any person for that. The process was not good for me. So I came out of it having to rediscover the joy of filmmaking.”
Yes, he’s made things in the interim, but it’s clear ‘Many Saints’ is being positioned as his “comeback.” We’ll have to see how it all works out when “The Many Saints of Newark” arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on October 1.