Yesterday, we got word that Logan director James Mangold has signed an overall deal with Paramount Pictures to “develop, direct, and produce feature film projects” for the studio, which was recently acquired by Skydance.
The new deal follows the recent news that Mangold's latest film, motorcycle racing drama High Side starring A Complete Unknown lead Timothée Chalamet, was acquired by the studio.
“I am very excited to begin this collaboration with David [Ellison], Josh [Greenstein], Dana [Goldberg], and everyone at Paramount,” the filmmaker said in a press release. “The enthusiasm they have demonstrated toward big screen films and the passion with which they have embraced my ideas for future projects is truly thrilling.”
Goldberg added, “James Mangold is one of the most talented filmmakers working today, and we could not be more excited to welcome him to the Paramount family, starting with High Side and many more collaborations to come.”
As we're sure many of you will be aware, Mangold is currently attached to a number of other projects that are in development at different studios, including Swamp Thing at DC Studios and an untitled Star Wars film at Disney/Lucasfilm. What does this Paramount deal mean for these other (potential) releases?
Somewhat surprisingly, Gizmodo is reporting that Mangold “remains attached and available to develop all his other projects.”
Of course, this doesn't mean we'll be seeing either of these movies anytime soon. We know that DC Studios' co-CEO James Gunn has prioritized a number of other projects, including Man of Tomorrow and a new Wonder Woman movie, ahead of several of the movies and TV shows that were announced as part of the "Gods and Monsters" slate.
"We talked to James the other day. No, he hasn't delivered a script. He's been distracted with his billion of movies," Gunn said in a recent interview when asked for an update on Swamp Thing. "We're talking about it again."
Likewise, Lucasfilm is believed to have put several projects on the backburner in order to focus on Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter and the untitled trilogy from writer/producer Simon Kinberg that was recently announced.
Mangold has previously shared a few intriguing details on his plans for Swamp Thing, while also explaining why he decided to make himself available for this particular project.
“As soon as I heard James Gunn was taking over DC, I just saw it as an opportunity to throw my hat down.”
He also said that his take on the classic DC Comics character will be inspired by Frankenstein, and although Gunn has previously stated that the movie will “investigates the dark origins of Swamp Thing” with a "much more horrific" story, the director clarified that he is "not specifically" targeting an R-rating.