After creating a real genre highlight with his screenplay for Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine”, Alex Garland has jumped into the director’s chair with masterful works such as “Ex Machina”, “Annihilation” and the miniseries “Devs” has finally become a from THE great science fiction hopeful. All the more regrettable that Garland now wants to put his career as a director on hold.
Back in 2022, “The Beach” novelist announced that he wanted to focus again on writing scripts that other people would then film, as was the case before “Ex Machina.” And the Briton now explicitly confirmed this again in a new interview : “I have no plans to direct in the near future.”
Alex Garland justified his decision by saying that making a movie made so many people trust something that initially didn’t seem very reliable, giving him sleepless nights. He’s referring to the fact that even with the best omens in filmmaking, it can rarely be said with certainty whether the end result will ultimately be convincing. A responsibility that lies primarily with the director and can certainly cause enormous pressure.
Despite the director’s retirement: 3 consolations for Garland fans
However, it will be a great loss for science fiction fans worldwide if Alex Garland steps back in the future. However, there are at least three points of consolation:
- ‘Civil War’, Alex Garland’s latest directorial work, will be released in German cinemas on April 18, 2024. While it’s not strictly science fiction this time, it once again creates rewarding seeings of dystopian oppression by pushing current moods in the US to their limits.
- Alex Garland will also be involved in the production of the war film ‘Warfare’, although he has already indicated that he will probably only work in an advisory role, preferring to leave the field to co-director Ray Mendoza, who is already working as a military supervisor worked on ‘Civil War’.
- As Alex Garland already explained in his 2022 statements, his (temporary?) retirement as a director does not mean that he will no longer write scripts. On the contrary, that is exactly what he now wants to focus more on. And so he will continue to contribute the script to the highly anticipated zombie sequel “28 Years Later” – and hopefully grace us with a few more exciting scripts.
Nevertheless, given his filmography to date, we sincerely hope that Alex Garland will one day find his way back to the director’s chair.