Despite the fact that it didn’t sit well with critics, or the majority of fans, David Ayer’s Suicide Squad still did some very respectable box office business, becoming the DCEU’s most profitable film to date and bringing in $745.5 million for Warner Bros. As such, a sequel is now coming together in the form of Suicide Squad 2 and the hunt for a director to get behind the camera is underway. In recent months, we’ve heard a few names tossed around – Mel Gibson, Jonathan Levine, Ruben Fleischer, Jaume-Collet Serra – but to date, Warner Bros. still hasn’t settled on anyone.
Today, one more director has expressed his interest in taking a stab at the property, but unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’ll work out due to scheduling issues. The man in question is Guy Ritchie, and while promoting his new film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, he mentioned that he’d like to direct the DCEU sequel. However, due to another project on his slate, he’s unable to climb on board.
“I quite fancy doing Suicide Squad 2, because I thought I could do a good job with it. I can’t do it because I’m doing something else. But I’ve felt I could really do something with that.”
The “something else” Ritchie is referring to here is Aladdin, which he’s already begun pre-production on. His comments are still interesting, though, as he makes it sound like he was at one point being considered for Suicide Squad 2. Or, at the very least, spoke with Warner Bros. about it. It makes sense, too, given that he’s worked with the studio quite a bit in the past and often, the two parties produce successful results.
As exciting as it would’ve been to see Ritchie get behind the camera for Task Force X’s next outing, it unfortunately won’t happen, but that doesn’t mean we should rule the director out of the DCEU just yet. The studio’s obviously a fan of his and though they couldn’t make it work for Suicide Squad 2, perhaps they can get him in for another film? Time will tell, but to see Guy Ritchie bring his signature gritty, high-octane directing style to any of Warner Bros.’ upcoming DC Comics adaptations would be a real treat and as such, we’re hopeful that they can get him on board for another project in the future.
