Bradley Cooper Has No Interest In Directing ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’
Bradley Cooper might be new to directing, but his first time behind the camera is already getting Oscar buzz. A Star Is Born debuts on October 5 and Cooper not only directed himself, but also Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott. The Hangover actor is also set to direct and star in the upcoming Bernstein, about Leonard Bernstein, the world-renowned composer and conductor.
There is one huge film floating around in limbo just dying for a director and some have wondered if Cooper could take the helm. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been put on hold indefinitely since James Gunn was removed from the project months ago. Disney decided to scrap the director despite the success of the first two superhero films after pedophilic tweets were found on Gunn’s timeline from 10 years ago. Movieweb caught up with Cooper recently and asked if he would be interested in getting behind the camera for the film where he voices Rocket Raccoon.
“In directing it? I could never direct anything that I didn’t write. No, I could never direct anything that I didn’t write,” Cooper explained.
Disney will still be using Gunn’s screenplay for GOTG3, therefore eliminating Cooper as a contender based on his own rule. The Silver Linings Playbook actor is penning the script for Bernstein and co-wrote A Star Is Born alongside Eric Roth (Forrest Gump).
Despite having an intimate knowledge of the Guardians franchise and knowing all the major players involved, Cooper has no interest in directing the flick and he likely wasn’t even approached.
GOTG3 was set to be in pre-production at this time, with a release date set for 2020. It’s being questioned if the film will even happen at all, with the crew of the film being told to look for other work. The cast of the Guardians franchise has stood behind Gunn and have asked for his reinstatement, especially Dave Bautista, who has threatened to quit if his friend was not re-hired.
Chris Pratt spoke out about the controversy in a lengthy Instagram post back in July. The post was an open letter which was signed by Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, Pratt, and Cooper.
“We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss,” the cast wrote. “In that time we have been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those who so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories around him […] We believe the theme of redemption has never been more relevant than right now.”
The Guardians will return in Avengers 4, which hits theaters on May 3, 2019.
