I’m well aware that the situation with Kavanaugh, protecting Rosenstein and Mueller and getting out the vote this November are the most important things on the menu at this moment. I’ve not lost sight of that one bit. But there’s something else I want to draw attention to, especially as it relates to something that many of us are well aware of.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are aware that alt-right scumbags Mike Cernovich and Jack Pobosiec used decade-old tweets to get Disney, more specifically Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn, to fire James Gunn from working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. This is a tactic they have used before, with Sam Seder, and Cernovich has been caught on a video retweeted by Guardians cast member Dave Bautista boasting that he specializes in smear campaigns. Despite all of this, and waves of support across the Internet, and throughout the industry supporting Gunn, Horn has refused to reconsider, and the rest of the Disney board, including CEO Bob Iger, will not currently stand up to him. Iger was quoted in a recent THR article as referring to Gunn’s firing as “a unanimous decision that I stand by.” But the truth is that Horn is known as a bully who uses his clout and position on the board to force others to see his way. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige was all for rehiring Gunn, until Horn forced him to back down.
In addition, Horn knew Gunn all the way back from his time at Warners, even all the way back his Troma days, so he was very well aware of what kind of filmmaker and individual Gunn was. Shortly after taking his current position at Disney in 2011, Horn was the one who particularly pushed for hiring Gunn to direct for them, and he was the one who confronted Gunn over the tweets in question, which he apologized for and owned up to. Horn believed this to be sufficient. But because Horn likes to cultivate an image as an upright, moral guardian, who is obsessed with Disney’s family friendly image, he immediately shafted Gunn when the tweets resurfaced, just to save himself.
But this is hardly the only reason why Horn must go and shows that he has no ability to lead in a crisis situation. Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy told Horn that it wouldn’t make any sense to release Solo in May, at roughly the same time as Infinity War, which would simply be too much of a juggernaut to stand on its own against. They pushed for following the Christmas release schedule of the last three films, but Horn played hardball. It would be the May release date or none at all, and he also wouldn’t spare any more money for marketing, because he wanted to focus all of it on Infinity War. Regardless of your thoughts about Solo, the film would have easily been profitable at the box office had it been released at Christmas like intended.
Horn also has been giving indications of Disney shuttering R-rated Fox IPs that “don’t fit our family friendly image” after the acquisition is complete, effectively seeming to mean no more films like The Revenant or The Shape of Water, and shutting down plans for redemption for the Alien franchise, like greenlighting Neill Blomkamp’s proposed “true sequel” to Aliens that Fox initially said was on the table, then took it back. Horn also shuttered Touchstone Pictures not long ago. Apparently, Horn is acting like projects like Pretty Woman (still the highest-grossing R-rated film in Disney’s history) simply do not exist.
And so we come to the crux of the situation. If there is to be any change in all of this: Horn must leave. With someone new, there is a greater chance that Gunn will be rehired after all, and that Disney will not squander the opportunities given to them with owning so many new IPs. We can make Disney take attention with the following petition: www.change.org/…
We can also make a difference by picketing down around the studios in Burbank. If we make it clear that we won’t stand for this, we can truly move the needle.