James Gunn Says Hollywood Is Dying Because of Rushed, Unfinished Scripts: 'Not Because of People Not Wanting To See Movies'
James Gunn is pointing fingers at Hollywood's production habits as the primary culprit behind the film industry's decline, rather than waning audiences or evolving technology.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the filmmaker stated that too many movies today begin production without a finished script, which he considers a fatal flaw. "I do believe that the reason why the movie industry is dying is not because of people not wanting to see movies," Gunn said. "It's not because of home screens getting so good. The number-one reason is because people are making movies without a finished screenplay."
Gunn Shuts Down Greenlit Project Over Script Issues
Since taking over DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, Gunn has made it clear that no film will move forward without a solid script. He revealed that he recently shut down a fully approved movie because the screenplay wasn't ready.
"Everybody wanted to make the movie. It was greenlit, ready to go," Gunn said. "The screenplay wasn't ready. And I couldn't do a movie where the screenplay's not good."
Instead, the studio is focused on carefully curated stories. "We've been really lucky so far," Gunn added, citing "Supergirl," "Lanterns," and "Clayface" as examples of projects that came in with "so f*****g good" scripts from the start. He credited that success to either "luck," "wise choices," or "whatever the combination is."
James Gunn calls out people who say that ‘THE BATMAN 2’ is cancelled.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) June 16, 2025
“It’s not canceled. We don’t have a script. Matt’s slow. Let him take his time. Let him do what he’s doing. God, people are mean. Let him do his thing, man.”
(Source: https://t.co/6aPjEnQQfX) pic.twitter.com/5tc7JjiSa9
Disney's Output Strategy Criticized
Gunn also addressed the pitfalls of high-output mandates that studios often impose, taking a jab at Disney's approach to its Marvel properties. "We don't have the mandate [at DC Studios] to have a certain amount of movies and TV shows every year," he explained. "So we're going to put out everything that we think is of the highest quality."
Without pressure to churn out content, Gunn said his team treats every project as a privilege, allowing more time and flexibility for development. "We're obviously going to do some good things and some not-so-good things, but hopefully on average everything will be as high-quality as possible," he said. "Nothing goes before there's a screenplay that I personally am happy with."
Disney CEO Bob Iger recently announced plans to slow Marvel's output in order to refocus on quality, following criticism of the company's inconsistent releases in recent years.
