Civil War and Ex Machina Director Clarifies Retirement Remarks

Filmmaker Alex Garland, who directed films like Ex Machina, Annihilation, and the upcoming Civil War, recently shared remarks in which he expressed that he would be stepping away from directing, and while some of those comments were interpreted to mean he would no longer be making movies, he has since clarified that he is specifically taking an indefinite hiatus from directing. He confirmed that he will still be focusing on writing, so it will come as a relief to fans that he will continue to explore compelling themes within the world of genre storytelling. Civil War is set to hit theaters on April 12th.

"What I said is I'm going to take a break from directing for the foreseeable future. How that could get extrapolated as what pride I do or do not feel in this movie. I just don't see the connecting thread," Garland confirmed to IndieWire. "I said I'm going to stop directing for the foreseeable future. Why would a statement like that be taken and picked over or interpreted to that degree? There's something weird happening there. There's something strange about that ... it's a general strangeness that exists to do with what form public statements take, how they are used, and how words are interpreted or read."

While Garland stepping away from the director's chair for an indefinite amount of time will disappoint fans of his recent works, with Garland having written projects like 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Dredd, fans can at least expect some compelling scripts to come from the filmmaker at some point in the future. Arguably the most exciting project from Garland on the horizon would be the long-awaited 28 Years Later, which will be a reunion with director Danny Boyle.

"Just to go back to the statement, I said: I'm going to take a break from directing or I'm going to stop directing for the foreseeable future. That is such an uncontentious thing to say," Garland pointed out. "I also said what I'm going to do is screenwriting. Screenwriting is filmmaking. You can't erase screenwriters or DOPs or editors or actors from the process of screenwriting. Filmmaking is not the preserve solely of directors."

He added, "I think there is something weird happening in the world. This is like a grain of sand of that weirdness. But the statement I made is so different from the way it's been interpreted. That is just odd. And so part of me is just reacting to that."

Civil War is set to hit theaters on April 12th.

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