Edgar Wright

The upcoming Ant-Man film is set to release next July, however the production of the film has hit a bump in the road.

In a joint statement, director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The World’s End) and Marvel Studios announced on Friday that Wright has left his duties as director/screenwriter “due to differences in their (Wright and Marvel Studios) vision of the film.” Marvel Studios also made the following remarks about the film’s release date.

“The decision to move on is amicable and does not impact the release date on July 17, 2015. A new director will be announced shortly.”

Wright’s departure is just yet another chapter in the film’s long production drama.

Originally, Wright was hired by Marvel Studios in 2006 to direct and co-write the screenplay as one of the first films in the company’s independently produced films (aka not involved with 20th Century Fox,  Universal Pictures, or Columbia Pictures). In 2007, Wright stated the film was “in a holding pattern” while the script was revised. He also explained that he could have done the film in 2011 but revealed why he had not:

I had a chance to doAnt-Man in 2011,” Wright said. “Simon was busy with three franchises, if you count Tin-Tin along with Star Trek and  Mission: Impossible. We had the story down, and it was in the back of my mind that if we didn’t do this film soon it might never happen, and we owed it to the fans. But then something else happened. [Working Title partner] Eric Fellner was diagnosed with cancer. When I found out about that, I’d literally just finished another screenplay for him, and it was on delivery that he told me. He has given me permission to tell this [World’s End] story. That changed everything.”

The film was in production limbo for 7 years before it was announced that Ant-Man would be part of Marvel’s Phase Three in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the announcement, Marvel Studios president Kevin Fiege indicated that the film had to undergo yet another re-write to modify Ant-Man fitting into the MCU due to the fact the script was written before the first Iron Man film (which was released in 2008).

There’s been speculation from fans that Wright’s film making techniques (see Scott Pilgrim as an example) didn’t fit with Marvel’s vision. If Marvel didn’t agree with Wright’s style, fans should be asking Marvel Studios why they decided to hired him in the first place.

Marvel seems confident that this change won’t affect the film, but with numerous re-writes and years in development hell, fans should be concerned that Ant-Man won’t meet the expectations that Marvel Studios has set with their films.

Are you worried about the film or are you confident it’ll turn out fine, minus all the drama? Post your thoughts in the comment section below.