UPDATE: It’s now being reported that Jude Law has left the project now that it has shifted out of Ramsay’s hands. It’s going to be a mess sorting out all the sides of this story, refusals to comment, etc. over the next few days. (via Film Stage)
Yesterday brought us the shocking news that Jane Got A Gun –a fascinating project joining Natalie Portman, a blacklist western script, and We Need To Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay– was halted on the first day of production, with the blame laid at the feet of a no-show director. Ramsay had apparently failed to show up for the first day, following some murky series of events, presumably last-minute negotiations. There is no chance of reconciliation- Ramsay has already been replaced.
I mentioned it yesterday and today there remains a frustratingly one-sided perspective to this story- Ramsay has not spoken out in any way. Not only has she been silent, but it turns out her manager is the daughter of the producer on the film, so we don’t even have the benefit of hearing her own representation’s spin. As it is now, we have a story of irresponsible abandonment spun by the producer in question and the news outlet (Deadline) that he’s feeding information to.
Their latest revelation? It will be Gavin O’Connor replacing Ramsay behind the camera.
O’Connor directed 2010’s fantastic Warrior, which starred Joel Edgerton. The actor is appearing in Jane Got A Gun as well (himself swapping roles with a newly added Jude Law to replace Michael Fassbender, who fucked off the project a few weeks ago), so it’s not hard to breakdown that train of logic. O’Connor managed to do some truly incredible things with what would otherwise have been a standard, melodramatic story in Warrior, and I even put it at the top of my yearly list because it managed some things that no other film that year did. I’m excited to see any film from O’Connor, so he’s a fine choice, even if the story of him landing the gig is so ugly.
It’s a shame this film will never be able to divorce itself entirely from this strange story, but I do hope we get a more full version at some point. It’s harder and harder to imagine a scenario in which Ramsay didn’t do something kind of shitty, but the portrait painted by the producer and a single news outlet is not enough on which to write off such a fascinating director. She’s not a crazy person- there’s got to be a story here.
We’ll keep you updated.