Warner Brothers has picked Miracle director Gavin O’Connor to take the reigns of Suicide Squad 2. Deadline is reporting that the decision was made today by the studio, though a deal has yet to be signed between the two.
Hiring O’Connor brings an end to the studio’s efforts to fill the director’s chair for the sequel following the departure of original film director David Ayers, who has moved on to develop another DC Comics Extended Universe film for the studio, Gotham City Sirens. Previously, O’Connor directed The Accountant for Warners.
Although it was met with poor reviews, Suicide Squad and its band of supervillains pressed into service as an expendable government black-ops team, pulled $745 million at the worldwide box office. it was inevitable that Warners would want a second film to help flesh out its cinematic universe franchise based on characters from corporate sibling DC Comics.
O’Connor beat out the likes of Mel Gibson and Jaume Collet-Serra for the gig based on the strength of a pitch that he will develop into a screenplay with writing partner Anthony Tambakis.
Recently, it was thought that the studio was looking to backburner the project due to their inability to find a director as well as due to concerns over co-star Will Smith’s heavy schedule. The rumored plan was that this film would be pushed back to a potential 2020 release while the studio concentrated more on its recently revealed Joker origin film being produced by Martin Scorsese and another film that would feature the Joker and his sometimes paramour, Suicide Squad‘s Harley Quinn. Given that O’Connor has not yet begun working on the screenplay, this rumored timetable for the premier of Suicide Squad 2 gains some credibility.
