James Gunn shares thoughts on the movie industry's downfall

James Gunn, the filmmaker and co-head of DC Studios, has spoken out about what he believes is the main reason behind the movie industry's decline. 

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Gunn shared his insights on the issue, stating that the root cause of the problem lies in the fact that many movies are being made without finished screenplays.

Gunn emphasized that this approach can lead to subpar films, which in turn can harm the industry as a whole. When he took over at DC Studios with Peter Safran, he made it a point to prioritise finished screenplays, refusing to greenlight projects until the scripts are complete. 

"The number-one reason is because people are making movies without a finished screenplay," Gunn said.

His approach has already led to some positive outcomes, with projects like Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface boasting high-quality scripts. He even admitted to killing a project due to an unfinished screenplay, despite everyone wanting to make the movie. 

"Everybody wanted to make the movie. It was greenlit, ready to go. The screenplay wasn’t ready. And I couldn’t do a movie where the screenplay’s not good," he explained.

The filmmaker believes that Disney's previous mandate to increase Marvel films and TV shows "killed them." However, Disney CEO Bob Iger has since refocused Marvel on quality over quantity. 

Gunn's approach at DC Studios is similar, with a focus on producing high-quality projects without a specific quota. "We don’t have the mandate [at DC Studios] to have a certain amount of movies and TV shows every year. So we’re going to put out everything that we think is of the highest quality," he added.