SGT. ROCK Writer Finally Addresses DC Studios Scrapping the Movie: “You Can Ask DC Studios”

DC Studios’ abandoned Sgt. Rock movie remains one of the more curious projects to fall apart before cameras started rolling, and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes has now offered a little more insight into what happened. Unfortunately, anyone hoping for a clean explanation won’t get one from him.

The Spider-Man: Brand New Day writer confirmed that the film had made significant progress before DC pulled the plug, while also describing the project as a much different kind of superhero movie than audiences might have expected.

DC Studios shelved Sgt. Rock last May after the film had been expected to begin production this year. Luca Guadagnino was attached to direct but eventually moved on to Artificial, starring Andrew Garfield.

Several possible explanations circulated after the cancellation, including Guadagnino’s lack of experience directing large-scale studio movies and concerns surrounding unpredictable weather in the UK.

There had also been some notable casting changes. Daniel Craig was initially eyed for the lead before DC Studios shifted its attention to Colin Farrell.

Some speculation suggested Farrell would have been a less expensive choice, though Guadagnino reportedly wanted another opportunity to work with Craig after their collaboration on Queer. Reports later pointed toward creative issues as another factor in the project falling apart.

Kuritzkes, who previously worked with Guadagnino on Challengers, has now addressed the situation in an interview with GQ. His comments appear to push back against the idea that weather was responsible for stopping production.

“We were more or less in prep.” When asked why DC Studios ultimately scrapped the movie, Kuritzkes kept his answer extremely simple: “You can ask DC Studios.”

Whatever happened internally, Kuritzkes clearly wanted to make the film. He said: “I was so, so excited for that movie. None of the people who were planning on doing it were people who were particularly interested in making big superhero movies.

“'Sgt. Rock' was very much a superhero movie that was about everyday heroes, humans, normal people, where the superheroes were really not the focus at all. So it was a pretty experimental thing.”

That description makes the canceled DCU project sound pretty interesting. Instead of building the story around superpowered characters, Sgt. Rock would have focused primarily on ordinary people and everyday heroism while still existing within a superhero world.

The report also revealed another piece of the movie’s casting puzzle. Mike Faist confirmed that he had been set to appear in Sgt. Rock and indicated that he and Guadagnino could still find another project to make together. He said: “Luca and I remain talking about things from time to time, for sure.”

While Kuritzkes isn’t offering an explanation for DC Studios’ decision, James Gunn has previously been much more specific about why the studio stopped the project. According to Gunn, the problem ultimately came down to the screenplay failing to reach the point where he believed it was ready to film.

Gunn said that even after a third draft, the script “just wasn't changing” and “wasn't getting better.” He explained:

“It was staying in the same place. And I said, 'We can’t make this film. We can’t. It’s not good. We know it’s not good.' Just because we have a good director attached and a good screenwriter, it doesn’t mean the script is working.”

Gunn also said moving ahead simply because the talent was already attached would have created problems for everyone involved.

“Everyone is going to be upset at the end of this. It’s going to come out, the movie’s not going to be good. The director’s going to look bad, the screenwriter’s going to look bad, and we’re going to look bad. So I don’t want to have this. We’re not going to make the movie. And so we killed it.”

It’s so funny because, Gunn didn’t have a problem with that terrible Supergirl script! Everything he said would happen with Sgt. Rock happened with Supergirl. I bet Sgt. Rock had a better script, though.

Sgt. Rock had originally been positioned as another DC Studios release alongside Supergirl and Clayface this year. At this point, there’s been no indication that DC Studios plans to revive the movie with another director, writer, cast, or creative approach.

That leaves Kuritzkes’ version of Sgt. Rock as another intriguing DC movie that got surprisingly close to production before being scrapped. Based on his description, it could have offered something unusual for the DCU, with Guadagnino and his collaborators approaching the material from outside the typical superhero blockbuster mindset.

Whether Sgt. Rock eventually gets another shot at the big screen is another question. For now, anyone looking for the full story behind why this particular version died apparently needs to take Kuritzkes’ advice and ask DC Studios.