Now that James Gunn has been reinstated as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Marvel Studios can finally think about moving forward with it. And if a new report is to be believed, the studio has decided to kick off production on the project in early 2021.
At one point, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was looking good enough to have begun filming by now, with an expected release in May 2020. Gunn had already turned in the script, and was looking forward to begin the pre-production. But then, the director was fired from the project over the resurfacing of his decade-old offensive tweets, only to be rehired at the position around eight months later.
But Gunn's reinstatement doesn't mean that the third outing of the Star Lord-led spacefaring team would head to production right away. When Disney turned its back on him, the director signed on to write and direct The Suicide Squad, which takes priority at the moment.
According to a new listing from Production Weekly (via ComicBook), however, Marvel and Gunn have a pretty clear idea about when they would get the cameras rolling for Guardians of the Galaxy 3. It suggests that the principal photography on the project would commence in February 2021 under the previously-revealed working title Hot Christmas. This probably means that the threequel won't make it to the theaters until 2022.
The Suicide Squad is currently eyeing a September start for its production. Gunn would probably be able to call it a wrap by the end of the year, or at least within the first couple of months of 2020. He would then get around a year to be done with the post-production chores, which would include the reshoots, before shifting his focus to the Marvel Cinematic Universe installment.
And when that one has concluded its filming as well, he can come back for the press tour of the DC Comics adaptation, which rolls into theaters on August 6, 2021. So, it doesn't seem like either of the projects is going to be frustrated by the other. Marvel also wouldn't mind the delay as it can, in the meantime, focus on getting movies like Black Widow, The Eternals and Shang-Chi off the ground.
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