In a strange turn of events, Lynne Ramsay has reportedly walked out on the production for Jane Got A Gun after just one day. The We Need To Talk About Kevin director was a complete no-show for role call on set this morning and her absence has cast a perpetual shadow over the future of the project.
The film was set to star the likes of Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton, although with Michael Fassbender being replaced last week, this isn’t the first time the production has hit creative turbulence. The news was confirmed through the movie’s producer Scott Steindorff, who is hoping to keep the project alive as the search for a replacement begins.
Check out what he had to say to Deadline below:
“I’m shocked and so disappointed someone would do this to 150 crew members who devoted so much time, energy, commitment and loyalty to a project, and then have the director not show up. It is insane somebody would do this to other people. I feel more for the crew and their families, but we are keeping the show going on, directors are flying in, and a replacement is imminent.”
Creative differences are nothing new in the film industry, and indeed many productions have changed directors in the past, but the fact that Ramsay has walked away from Jane Got A Gun without an explanation is completely baffling. At this point in time, we can’t chalk up any conspiracy theories just yet, but given the understandable anger Steindorff has expressed, you get the impression something is awry.
It took Ramsay almost ten years to bring her adaptation of We Need To Talk About Kevin to celluloid in 2011, which raises more questions about her decision to exit Jane Got A Gun. Surely the momentum building around the project and the talent attached would be reason enough to see the film through. Regardless of sporadic departures, the dust will eventually settle in the outback and this indie western will look to pass on the directorial baton.
For the sake of the production, though, let’s hope Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Joel Edgerton remain loyal to the film, otherwise Jane Got A Gun may soon become Jane Got An Axe.
