The 2024 blockbuster season kicks off in earnest this weekend with David Leitch‘s “The Fall Guy” now in theaters. But their latest film wasn’t the only thing Leitch and his wife and creative partner Kelly McCormick spoke about while on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast this week. They also had to dodge questions about Leitch’s brief tenure as the director of the upcoming “Jurassic World” reboot. Leitch bailed on the job in February, with Gareth Edwards subsequently taking over. So what gives? Why did Leitch sign on to the franchise reset only to step away just days later?
For Leitch, it was a matter of differing creative “parameters”: his vision of the movie not aligning with what Steven Spielberg and producer Frank Marshall had in mind for the next “Jurassic World” film. Fair enough, only Leitch decided to explain himself in the most direct way imaginable. “We have the privilege of choice and that’s daunting,” said the director. “And it’s true though, and we’ve kind of earned it, in terms of the movies that we’ve made and the successes they’ve had, and hopefully continued success, but to be asked to be in those worlds, you want to take those conversations seriously, and we are creative to find our ways in to a lot of things. So it was a really great conversation to have, to be in talks with Steven and Frank, about that franchise that is so dear to us, it was a really beautiful time.”
“Ultimately, you have to do what’s best for the movie at hand and do what’s best for you as an artist,” Leitch continued “and make sure that you’re making the same movie, and you could do it within the parameters, and at some point we just said—we wanted to give that answer quickly because they have to go make this movie quickly that everyone is excited to see and I think that they’ve landed on, obviously, a brilliant director, who we love and respect and… it’s gonna be amazing.”
Leitch described turning down “Jurassic World” as “surreal, “but I believe we’ve earned this position [to turn it down].” “And we’re privileged,” he added, “we are able to choose the movies we want to make, and we want to make sure we have the creative freedom to make those movies the way we want to make them.” McCormick confirmed Leitch’s viewpoint, calling the meeting with Spielberg a “pinch me moment” and the she felt “deeply fortunate to spend some moments with him,” but she also know “Jurassic World” wasn’t the movie for them.
As for what Leitch and McCormick plan to do after “The Fall Guy,” who knows? They’re producing the upcoming action film “With Love,” which stars Ke Huy Quan and hits theaters next February, but they’re attached to nothing beyond that. Maybe how the “The Fall Guy” does at the box office will determine their next project. Check out the
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