With Marvel announcing Scott Derrickson as the director for “Doctor Strange” last night, it was a brief moment of distraction from their ongoing search for someone to get behind the camera for “Ant-Man.” But that moment was short-lived as last evening came the news that one of the reported frontrunners for the job had dropped out.
First reported by This Is Infamous and confirmed by The Wrap, “We’re The Millers” and “Dodgeball” director Rawson Thurber has passed on “Ant-Man.” There’s no official reason why Thurber moved on, but this is not an easy project to get someone to agree to. With Marvel racing to meet a release date, whoever gets the gig will be thrown right into the deep end, with little in the way of prep time. (Edgar Wright had been in pre-production for months before he exited the film). Moreover, they’ll likely have to take the script as is, like it or lump it, with little chance to make more changes to suit their style or voice. And oh yeah, and that’s not to mention Marvel’s usually stingy pay grade for talent being the icing on top.
So, with Wright, Adam McKay and now Rawson Thurber moving on, who’s left? Ruben Fleischer‘s name had been in the mix but now there’s talk he’ll be doing “Ghostbusters 3” instead, so it’ll be interesting to see who Marvel’s second slate of choices will be. But they’ll have to move fast. The clock is ticking and “Ant-Man” is still slated to hit theaters on July 17, 2015.
