Sony has revealed the title of James Gunn’s latest horror film and pushed the release date to 2019. Writer and director Gunn is best known for his work with Marvel Studios, namely Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but his directorial debut was in the horror genre with Slither, in 2006.
Although he hasn’t directed a horror film since then, he hasn’t stayed far from it, having penned the remake of Dawn of the Dead in 2004, and written and produced the horror-thriller The Belko Experiment in 2016. Last year, it was announced Gunn was producing a new horror film alongside production company The H Collective from a script written by his brother, Brian Gunn, and their cousin, Mark Gunn. The project has been kept under wraps for months, but Sony finally shared some information on it, including a new release date.
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The Wrap reports that Sony has pushed back Gunn’s film, now titled BrightBurn, from November of this year to May 24, 2019, placing another horror film (The Possession of Hannah Grace) in its spot. BrightBurn is directed by David Yarovesky (The Hive) and stars Elizabeth Banks, who also starred in Gunn’s Slither. Sadly, the studio didn’t share any plot details, so that will remain a mystery for a bit longer.
Back in July, Gunn was scheduled to appear at Sony’s Hall H panel in San Diego Comic-Con to talk about the project, teasing it was something “dark, sweet and special”. However, his appearance was cancelled at the last minute following his firing from Disney after some old tweets were brought to light. Gunn even shared a teaser image for the then-untitled project, which had some fans speculating about a Bloodborne adaptation.
Since then, Gunn has stayed away from social media and no details on his non-Marvel projects had been revealed until now. Aside from his work as writer and director in Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, he also directed the mid-credits scene in Thor: The Dark World, Stan Lee’s cameo in Doctor Strange, and served as executive producer on Avengers: Infinity War and the upcoming Avengers 4.
For now, moviegoers can only speculate on the tone BrightBurn will have, and given Gunn’s and Yarovesky’s background in the horror genre, a film more gore-oriented with a good amount of psychological horror can be expected. Hopefully, it won’t be long until Sony releases an official synopsis for the film, as well as a first look – either official photos or a teaser.
