Alex Garland’s latest film “Men” may be the most divisive of his directing career thus far. And that may explain why the movie fared so poorly at the box office, dropping out of the US top ten in only its third weekend. But that’s a poor way to judge a film by Garland. None of his movies, even his critically lauded 2014 directorial debut “Ex Machina,” raked in money at the box office. He’s a niche director, which goes back even to his earlier screenplays like “Sunshine” and “28 Days Later.”
READ MORE: ‘Civil War’: Alex Garland & A24 Team For Near-Future Action Epic Starring Kirsten Dunst
And Garland may retreat solely to writing screenplays for other filmmakers moving forward. In a recent interview with ScreenDaily, Garland mentioned that his follow-up to “Men,” “Civil War,” which just wrapped shooting, “will definitely be [his] last film as a director for at least a while.” The new film stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Cailee Spaeny in what Garland describes as a “contemporary war movie.” An intriguing option, as Garland’s never done a war film before, but also sad news for fans of his work.
So, why is Garland finished with directing? His decision comes from some recent self-reflection. “I’ve got a quite complicated but serious internal dialogue about what I’m going to do next,” said Garland, “Years ago, I started out as a novelist and then stopped writing novels and started working in film. And I have been feeling quite strongly that I should stop directing films and I should write for other people with the intention of trying to execute the film they want to make, rather than trying to force through the film I want to make, which is what used to happen in the old days.” So, it sounds like Garland wants to focus on writing more than directing and not have a hand in both.
While it’d be sad for “Civil War” to be Garland’s final film as a director, let’s not forget he’s a great screenwriter. His script for 2012’s “Dredd” (a film he surreptitiously had a hand in directing) is a cult favorite. And the two films based on Garland’s novels, Danny Boyle‘s 1999 flick “The Beach” and 2003’s “The Tesseract” have their devotees, as well. But maybe, just maybe, Garland is burnt out after shooting “Civil War,” which he started immediately after finishing “Men.” “It could be in part a product that I ended post-production on Men literally 48 hours before principal photography of Civil War, so maybe that was just exhausting,” said Garland, “But I wonder whether it’s time to step back.”
Let’s hope Garland doesn’t retire altogether because the films he’s been a part of are among the best science-fiction in 21st-century cinema. “Civil War” only just wrapped shooting, but expect A24 to release it sometime next year. And read our review of “Men” here.