Getting to choose between working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or toiling away on a horror movie passion project sounds like quite a nice situation to be in really, doesn’t it? Well, for filmmaker Scott Derrickson, the scary stuff won the day and a certain Marvel movie project passed him by.
Derrickson has made plenty of spooky films, like the thriller movie The Black Phone, and the ghost movie Deliver Us From Evil, so it’s no surprise that he would rather make his terrifying monster movie Sinister instead of tackling a superhero movie.
Speaking to SlashFilm, Derrickson revealed how a mis-step in his career with the remake of science fiction movie The Day The Earth Stood Still made him think twice about taking on a big budget blockbuster and led him to stick to his horror movie roots instead.
“So my attitude going into Sinister, the reason why I said yes to Jason [Blum] immediately was, I was like, ‘OK, this is it. If this is the last film I ever get to make…’ I was getting offered things like Ghost Rider 2. If I had made that movie, I probably never would’ve worked again. And I was passing on the few things I was getting offered,” Derrickson explained.
“When Jason came to me and said, ‘I’ll give you $3 million and final cut,’ I was like, OK, great. Well, if this is the last movie I get to make, I’m going to make a movie that I want to see,” he added.
Everything turned out pretty great for Derrickson in the end. Sinister was not the last production he would ever make and the Ethan Hawke movie was actually a resounding success. He even got to make an MCU movie in the end anyway, helming the first Doctor Strange flick.
Derrickson was also lined up to direct Doctor Strange 2 as part of the MCU Phase 4, but had to pull out. His career is still on the upswing, and you can see what the future holds for the MCU with our guide to Marvel’s Phase 5.