April 15, 2015. Patty Jenkins, who at one point was to direct ‘Thor 2′ for rival Marvel Studios, has closed a deal to helm Warner Bros.’ female superhero movie.
Just days after losing a director for Wonder Woman, Warners has quickly found another filmmaker to pick up the reins on the high-profile project.
Patty Jenkins, who at one point was to direct Thor 2 for rival Marvel Studios, has closed a deal to helm Warner Bros.’ female superhero movie.
Warners moved at lightning speed to sew up another director after parting ways Monday with Michelle MacLaren, the experienced TV showrunner who was to have made her feature directorial debut with Wonder Woman. Creative differences were cited as the reasons for MacLaren’s departure.
Selecting Jenkins helps Warners avoid what some saw as a gender bias against women directors helming superhero tentpoles. Ironically, Jenkins would have been the first female director on a Marvel movie if she had continued on Thor 2. She will now become the first female director to handle a big project in Warner’s developing DC universe.
The studio needed to move quickly in order not to lose momentum on the project, which has been slotted for 2017 and has Gal Gadot attached to star.
Jenkins is also another experienced TV filmmaker, although she actually got her start in movies. Her debut film was Monster, the indie that won Charlize Theron a best acting Oscar. But showing how hard the film world can be for female directors, Jenkins has had a tough time finding a follow-up feature. She did, however, make a mark in TV, including directing the pilot for AMC’s acclaimed crime drama The Killing.
Jenkins is repped by CAA, Anonymous Content and Jackoway Tyerman.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER