‘Better Call Saul,’ ‘Game of Thrones’ director out of ‘Wonder Woman’ movie project

It is not particularly often that we find ourselves writing about TV directors, mostly because this medium is largely though of to be more of a writer’s playground. With different people stepping into the chair for different episodes, it is hard sometimes to really establish yourself as distinct.

However, Michelle MacLaren did that. She directed the second episode of “Better Call Saul” entitled “Mijo,” a series of great “Breaking Bad” episodes, four installments of “Game of Thrones,” and also the season 4 finale of “The Walking Dead.” She is up there with Paris Barclay and David Nutter as one of our favorite TV directors. It was no surprise that the upcoming “Wonder Woman” feature film would want her. The same goes for almost any movie with a strong action component.

So to hear the news that she is departing the project before it really gets going is somewhat sad and also stunning. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the exit is due to “creative differences” with the studio at Warner Bros. behind the film. It’s the same reason why Edgar Wright was not the final director of “Ant-Man.” It happens often, especially with big-budget franchises, that you get a director and studio ultimately wanting different things. Studios like to have a ton of control over these stories.

For one reason or another, “Wonder Woman” has faced problems in almost every medium possible. There have been multiple TV pilots that have failed early on in the process, and one that was shot was not picked up to series. This movie will most likely still happen given the strong DC universe that is out there in film at the moment, but it is a big loss to the studio.

Granted, maybe this opens up MacLaren to do some more sensational TV work, but we didn’t want to see it happen like this.

(Photo: AMC.)