James Gunn Confirms Luca Guadagnino Will No Longer Direct SGT. ROCK; Shares Big SWAMP THING Update

James Gunn Confirms Luca Guadagnino Will No Longer Direct SGT. ROCK; Shares Big SWAMP THING Update

Superman director James Gunn has confirmed that Challengers helmer Luca Guadagnino is no longer attached to Sgt. Rock, and shares an exciting update about James Mangold's long-delayed Swamp Thing...

By JoshWilding - Jul 20, 2025 04:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Sgt. Rock

The news broke in May that DC Studios had decided to shelve Sgt. Rock. There was some chatter about the movie shooting in 2026, but filmmaker Luca Guadagnino didn't exactly stick around and quickly moved on to a different project, Artificial

His inexperience helming big-budget movies was listed as one of the possible reasons for Sgt. Rock's postponement, as were concerns about the UK's unpredictable weather. There were telltale signs of problems from the start, with Daniel Craig eyed to lead the movie before DC Studios suddenly pivoted to Colin Farrell.

Some believe Farrell was the cheaper option (James Gunn and Peter Safran don't appear keen on spending a huge amount of money on actors), despite Guadagnino being eager to reunite with Craig, whom he previously worked with on Queer.

Talking to Josh Horowitz, Gunn said he's still "hugely" excited to make Sgt. Rock, but when he was asked whether Guadagnino is still attached, the filmmaker simply replied, "No." 

This comes after another recent interview, which saw the Superman helmer suggest the movie in its current iteration would have made all involved "look bad."

"We had a screenplay that—you know, a movie that was greenlit. We got second draft and third draft, and it just wasn’t changing. It wasn’t getting better. It was staying in the same place. And I said, 'We can’t make this film. We can’t. It’s not good. We know it’s not good.' Just because we have a good director attached and a good screenwriter, it doesn’t mean the script is working."

"Everyone is going to be upset at the end of this. It’s going to come out, the movie’s not going to be good. The director’s going to look bad, the screenwriter’s going to look bad, and we’re going to look bad. So I don’t want to have this. We’re not going to make the movie. And so we killed it."

It takes guts to scrap a movie that's been announced (not to mention upsetting a filmmaker of Guadagnino's calibre) because it, for lack of a better word, sucked. That's surely a better option than forging ahead with a middling script and trying to rescue a disappointing movie with reshoots. Look at how Captain America: Brave New World turned out. 

Elsewhere in the interview, Gunn was asked for an update on James Mangold's Swamp Thing movie. "We talked to James the other day. No, he hasn't delivered a script. He's been distracted with his billion of movies," Gunn laughed. "We're talking about it again."

It's evident that several of the "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" movies and TV shows announced at the start of 2023 aren't taking shape as quickly as anyone would have liked. It now remains to be seen whether they eventually happen or DC Studios moves on to other stories. 

You can hear more from Gunn in the player below.

Gunn Says SGT. ROCK Is Moving Forward; Teases Unannounced Project He Feared Another Company Would Rip Off
Related:

Gunn Says SGT. ROCK Is Moving Forward; Teases Unannounced Project He Feared Another Company Would "Rip Off"

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MarvelZombie616
MarvelZombie616 - 7/20/2025, 5:31 AM
As long as Supergirl is solid and didn't cost more than $70 million DC will be okay.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/20/2025, 5:38 AM
@MarvelZombie616 - Supergirl's budget won't be less than $150 million.
ProfessorWhy
ProfessorWhy - 7/20/2025, 5:45 AM
@TheJok3r - I would imagine they are going to market the hell out of Supergirl to make sure they hammer down the new iteration of the brand. It's a risky proposition, as they've already introduced the lead as arguably unlikable.... should be interesting to watch
ElJefe
ElJefe - 7/20/2025, 7:52 AM
@MarvelZombie616 - There are a couple important things about Supergirl. One is that it has Krypto, who many loved in Superman, and the other is that it has Momoa playing Lobo, which I think most of us have been waiting to see. I think it’ll make $$.
skyshark03191
skyshark03191 - 7/20/2025, 8:49 AM
@ElJefe - How many of the GA know of Lobo though? I may not be a fan myself but as a comics nerd I know full well who he is. But will the regular folks?
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/20/2025, 8:51 AM
@ProfessorWhy - unlikable? She was flat out FUN in her minute long cameo.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/20/2025, 8:54 AM
@fanboy03191 - Momoa will play Lobo perfectly and bring lots of fun, unofficial marketing for the character online.
skyshark03191
skyshark03191 - 7/20/2025, 10:18 AM
@lazlodaytona - good point I guess.
AwesomePromoz
AwesomePromoz - 7/20/2025, 10:24 AM
@fanboy03191 - A good trailer will get people pumped for Momoa as Lobo. I actually think a buddy intergalactic road film with Lobo and rebellious Supergirl could be cool as [frick]. But they say it's heavily based on the Woman of Tomorrow graphic novel, which I haven't read because spoilers.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/20/2025, 11:46 AM
@AwesomePromoz - I love this!

Great idea
ElJefe
ElJefe - 7/20/2025, 2:00 PM
@fanboy03191 - No, not at all, but the regular folks like Momoa - especially coming off of Minecraft’s stellar run
Repian
Repian - 7/20/2025, 8:18 AM
I would also watch a movie about the JSA, directed by Rian Johnson and starring Craig as Jay Garrick.
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PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 7/20/2025, 8:38 AM
Worst Swamp Thing drawing ever. Looks like he's made up of corn stalks with a bot of lettuce. Someone tried too hard to stand out.
ElJefe
ElJefe - 7/20/2025, 2:04 PM
@PartyKiller - Yeah some people make him look like a dish of potpourri.

Have you seen Capullo’s Swamp Thing? Awesome.

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PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 7/20/2025, 9:34 PM
@ElJefe - That's very cool. Capullo just drew Swamp Thing the right way and made him look great.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/20/2025, 9:00 AM
I'm a big DC fan for decades and I have no freaking clue who Sgt. Rock is nor do I even care to see an entire film about the character.
Even a series on MAX probably wouldn't garner much attention. This one I'm stumped on with the thought being, "why waste time with this?"
Patient2670
Patient2670 - 7/20/2025, 12:20 PM
@lazlodaytona - Sgt. Rock being a lesser known character would have been an asset- like Guardians of the Galaxy was for Marvel. The attention the movie got was because of the talent pedegree attached. The fact that it's becoming a revolving door as well as being about a lesser known character could definitely prove to be a detriment. Admittedly, I'm a lifelong comics guy and familliar with the character, so I'm looking forward to it. That said, at one point, I was looking forward to Jonah Hex as well (and we all know how that worked out). I agree with Gunn, in that they really need to have a great script before moving forward on it.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/20/2025, 12:35 PM
@Patient2670 - is it really a property though that you could see doing well as a film? Even if the budget wasn't expensive?
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 7/20/2025, 1:40 PM
@lazlodaytona - Dude, Sgt. Rock was a beast of a character in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. I'm old, but I can confidently say that Rock was a valued character in the DC universe of that era. James Gunn for sure would have been a fan. By the mid-80s, the interest in WWII began to fade, and Sgt. Rock was cancelled. It was only after Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers about 25 years ago was there a renewed interest in Rock ... but nowhere close to the level of 50, 60 years ago.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/20/2025, 3:47 PM
@GeneralZod - so would he work in a film? Or better for a Max series?
Patient2670
Patient2670 - 7/20/2025, 3:54 PM
@lazlodaytona - Absolutely. Tell a really good story with a great character that not everybody will be microanalyzing for canon? Set it during WWII? They can even connect back with Creature Commandos- though, I kind of hope they don't front load it with that.
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 7/20/2025, 5:30 PM
@lazlodaytona - Series. Very gritty character. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders in protecting his men. There are interesting supporting characters like Bulldozer (think of "Bull" from Band of Brothers) Ice Cream Soldier and Little Sure-Shot. With mostly anti-war messaging. "Make War No More." I think it works for TV.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/20/2025, 6:24 PM
@GeneralZod - Awesome. That has me more excited now.
I'm with you; a series so we can flesh out all of those characters.
DSAC294
DSAC294 - 7/20/2025, 9:08 AM
It will be hard to do something unique with this. A great Sgt Rock movie was already made in the 80’s - Predator
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 7/20/2025, 9:15 AM
Good, can’t be afraid to cut your losses
Forthas
Forthas - 7/20/2025, 10:19 AM
"It's evident that several of the "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" movies and TV shows announced at the start of 2023 aren't taking shape as quickly as anyone would have liked. It now remains to be seen whether they eventually happen or DC Studios moves on to other stories."

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itzayaboy
itzayaboy - 7/20/2025, 11:31 AM
Focus on the Justice League and its founding members. That’s what people want. None of these D and C list characters unless they show up in founding members movies.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/20/2025, 12:02 PM
While it makes sense to assume that the movie Gunn was talking about was SGT Rock , we also know they are creatives attached to various DCU projects that we don’t know about so it could be one of those aswell…

Also he even says that they “killed” that film for whose script they weren’t satisfied with but we do know SGT Rock is still moving forward whether it’s in a new iteration or not.

Anyway , I hope both that and Mangold’s gothic take on Swamp Thing do happen sooner then later!!.
Patient2670
Patient2670 - 7/20/2025, 12:24 PM
@TheVisionary25 - I'm particularly interrested in Mangold's Swamp Thing movie. I hope it happens. I have to imagine though, some of it will hinge on how Clayface does, due to tone and potential audience reaction to a DC Creature Feature.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 7/20/2025, 12:45 PM
That's cool, just glad we're getting a Swamp Thing movie. It'd be a good setup for a Justice League Dark project.

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