Paramount's new animated movie Wonder Park doesn't have a credited director, and here's why
Aux Features Wonder ParkHave you heard of Wonder Park, Paramount Pictures’ latest animated foray into the world of talkative animals? It wouldn’t be terribly shocking if you hadn’t: The film has been met with a lukewarm reception at best and the marketing was pretty light, sans a few last-minute ad spots and a mobile game from Pixowl. It might’ve helped if the director had taken some time to spread the good word about their latest project, right?
In the curious case of Wonder Park, that would have been a little difficult. By the time the film had reached audiences, no director had been credited. Alan Smithee, the famed pseudonym attached to cinema’s disowned darlings, hasn’t even stepped in to to take credit. So is there a secret director or is this simply the first film to direct itself into existence?
Well, there may actually be a good reason for the omission. Back in January, when the film was originally titled Amusement Park, then-director Dylan Brown was fired from the project after multiple complaints of “inappropriate and unwanted behavior.”
“We are committed to fostering a safe and professional workplace that is free of harassment or inappropriate conduct, so we take allegations of misconduct and impropriety very seriously,” a Paramount rep said in a statement. “We received allegations of inappropriate and unwanted conduct by Dylan Brown in the workplace and we conducted a thorough investigation, and he is no longer employed by the company.”
By this time, the film was well into production – possibly finished – and slated for a March release. This, mind you, came after Jeffrey Tambor, who was originally part of the cast, was replaced due to his own set of harassment complaints.
There you go. No ghost director, although it might have made for a more interesting final product.
[Via The Hollywood Reporter]
28 Comments
So why did the DGA allow this?
Animation directors aren’t even eligible for DGA, so uhh…they don’t give a shit.
That’s some incredible bullshit.
Here’s a good article talking about exactly this:https://screencrush.com/why-cant-an-animated-film-be-nominated-for-best-director-at-the-oscars/
Thanks, this is actually useful info
So can someone educate me: why is this film coming out director-less while Bohemian Rhapsody credited Bryan Singer despite the fact that he was fired from that film? Anyone have a concise spiel on the rules surrounding directorial credit?
Probably the contract he signed and/or DGA rule. See my other comment about animation directors not being eligible for DGA, which is some real bullshit.
Wow. I never knew that. That is insane.
Wow. That is messed up.
It is called the “Eastwood Rule.” Here is a very short explanation. Here is a slightly longer one.
Thanks. That’s what I was looking for.
The timeline of Bryan Singer being fired is murky — Bryan Singer asked for time off for “personal reasons” and 20th Century Fox said no and hired someone to finish the film as was their right. Bryan Singer under DGA and his contract still had the right to be credited. I believe the amount of film that he completed plays a role as well as the fact that he was not technically fired.
That movie, even given Rami Malek’s performance, got so much praise and yet there is just so many problems with the movie.
Yes. It is not a good movie but it incorporates Queen’s music, which is some of the best ever written. There were moments in that movie during which I was affected emotionally and it had everything to do with the music and very little to do with the film (or the film itself had an inverse effect). I think it got so many accolades because a lot of people have a hard time identifying the reason they feel moved when evaluating a work like Bohemian Rhapsody.
Different studio. Different policies.
It was reported that Bryan arrived late on set and argued with Rami and some crew members, but there were no allegations of misconduct. Well, there *were* in the past, but not during production of B.R. Therefore, it’s not the same situation.
I mean, every movie I’ve been to the past few months (which hasn’t been much) has had a trailer for this movie. Apparently this movie is a LOT heavier than the trailers make you think.
Ditto. I was actively looking forward to the release of this film, just so the trailers would stop. Unfortunately, there’s still a month of the fucking Breakthrough trailer to go.
Why is this nothing story about a nothing movie your top news story when James Gunn was just rehired for Guardians 3?
They are just listed in order of most recently posted. The James Gunn article will be on the front page as soon as it gets enough page views.
The marketing was light…unless you watch Nick Jr, where there are multiple ads per show. My 4-year-old is excited to see Wonder Park because she’s seen commercials for it. She’s only started watching TV with commercials recently (and only when we’re too lazy to fast-forward on the DVR), so I think this is the only movie she’s seen advertised.
Well, it is a Nickelodeon production.
As a nightly Nick at Nite-r, I saw an avalanche of ads for this movie as well.
I saw the trailer several times in theaters, which was maddening because I don’t go to the theater all that often, and the trailer is particularly bad.
I assume that the movie must have been made by a non-native-English-speaking production company, because the aversion to showing any character speaking is palpable. The rapid cuts away from anyone talking is clearly designed to mask poor dubbing.
Unfortunately I HAD heard about it, over and over again, as the trailer for it played before four of the last six movies I’ve seen. Guess that means I might go to see too many animated movies?
I’m pretty ignorant of most production/director behind the scenes stuff, so digging into the “Alan Smithee” history is really cool.
You know who isn’t surprised that Wonder Park didn’t have a director, people who saw Wonder Park!
THE MOVIE IS TITLED WONDERPARK BUT IN THE MOVIE THE PARK IS CALLED WONDERLAND!Insta-pass on this movie just for that.