Jane Got a Gun to Now Be Directed by a John Doe?

You may have heard that director Lynne Ramsay did not show up for the first day of production on Brian Duffield's Jane's Got a Gun, a modest-budgeted Western starring Natalie Portman who seeks the assistance of an old lover to protect herself from a group of men who are after her husband. Rising star Michael Fassbender was originally set to star as the former beau, but then dropped out last Thursday, when he was replaced by Joel Edgerton, who was already cast as the villain that would now be played by Jude Law. While most sources, including THR initially reported that his departure was due to scheduling conflicts with the filming of the upcoming X-Men sequel, Screen Daily claimed the actor had a falling out with the director. Deadline had reported on the casting of Edgerton (when he was first cast as the villain) and Rodrigo Santoro in the past couple of months, but they chose not to post on Fassbender's exit. However, this morning, Mike Fleming Jr's practically played producer Scott Steindorff's press agent by relaying how the director failed to show up after alluding to some ambiguous "drama" that preceded her absence, which was a surprise to producer and star Portman. He reiterated that Ramsay was "pay or play," as well as Steindorff having retained litigator Marty Singer. There was a choir of comments from Deadline readers echoing Ramsay's seeming unprofessionalism which followed. And, as per Deadline's standard policy, some comments which raised doubts about the circumstance's veracity and/or played devil's advocate were removed by Deadline's editors.

Now, of course, it's Nikki Finke's website, and she may do as she pleases. But, despite every story having an angle, I get weary of any signs of "newsources" trying to micro-manage the narrative. Now, granted, they may have good reason. Ramsay could just be apeshit crazy and Deadline is helping Steindorff keep the narrative simple and ontrack, as to not worry investors and avoid anymore bad publicity a film which just lost its director on its first day can handle. Fassbender is a hot property and has his pick of projects right now. X-Men is his meal-ticket, his schedule is packed, and he doesn't have time for any "drama." OR, perhaps he had a great professional relationship with Ramsay and unreasonable constraints were placed on her vision, and she was beginning to feel squeezed out of her role. And, out of some sort of allegiance, he got out early.  Perhaps his exit only signified his nonjudgmental fear that trouble between director and producer was his sign to leave.  [3/20 Update: I doubt he'll weigh in on the matter, as he busy doing this and this.]

The Deadline article makes it pretty clear that there wasn't any kind of unrelated, unexpected personal matter that kept Ramsay from appearing. The choice was premeditated, regardless of motivation and situation. There was a decision that was made.  It doesn't help Ramsay's case that she took no means to preemptively control the fallout, without even a press release informing everyone of her separation.  But, as a Huff Post article reported today, perhaps that may have had to do with Steindorff's daughter Jessica being Ramsay's representative (!). Right there, it suggests that too much control may have been exerted on the director, whether or not out of benevolent intentions. Obviously, the younger Steindorff has broken off her relationship with Ramsay. ""My father Scott Steindorff prevails under extreme amounts of stress and the show will go on ... Sorry, but in this town it's family first," she said through email. No wonder we haven't heard from Ramsay? The whole thing sounds very bizarre, to say the least. To quote the screenwriter Duffield's tweet from yesterday, "Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn."  Indeed!

The elder Steindorff has a Twitter account than isn't always oft-used. His last tweet was from February 8th: "Be positive always." Before that, he referenced a GQ article on a "unknown (and unhinged)" director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy's undertaking epic film Dau about Soviet scientist Lev Landau. Yet, back in early October, there seemed to be happier times when he proudly linked an EW article about him securing financing for Ramsay's next film, described as a sci-fi Moby Dick. "“Lynne Ramsay is one of the most talented directors of our time. I’m excited to be making these two films with her, and hopefully more,” added Steindorff in a press release." How ominous.  He also linked to a Guardian article extolling Ramsay's directing importance as one of the 23 greatest working directors today, which included the stamp of approval from Tilda Swinton (whom I admire). Deadline was also cited by the producer when news broke of Scott Pictures and Gun being its first feature.

It's funny, this morning, I was so quick to take the "female" side of the equation, because I was highly anticipating this movie based on its estrogen level: Oscar-winning box-office draw Portman, who is talented and smart (and an outspoken champion of female directors), being directed by another female who was the ultra-creative force behind We Need to Talk About Kevin in a film that isn't a rom-com or franchise movie, but an original genre film.  By the end, however, I'm left thinking that my biases may have gotten the better of me.  After giving way too much thought, I really have no idea, and we may never know. I have no personal experience with either Ramsay or Steindorff. The producer was involved with the TV show Las Vegas from the mid-2000s (I forgot that show once existed). I had a friend who worked as an extra during the first season and she said the set was just very sexist and seedy.  But it's not like you can ascertain anything from that. Whatever the case, Gun, what was once filled with so much landmark promise is looking awfully precarious at the moment.  Just friggin' sad.  This is 2013, right?  WTF.  [3/20 Update: Meanwhile, a director was found, who Edgerton will be reunited with after having a role switch.  But, Law, who had previously collaborated with Portman twice has dropped out.  Oh, and Steindorff's assistant, out of fear of her job, solicited positive comments from friends for the initial Deadline article.]