How Joe Wright's 'Pan' Flop Cost Him Directing Job on Julius Caesar Epic (Exclusive)

Joe Wright‘s “Pan” may lead to a $150 million write-down for Warner Bros. but it could also cost Joe Wright, unfairly or not.

Multiple Hollywood insiders have told TheWrap that earlier this month, while Wright was in Los Angeles to promote “Pan,” he won the job to direct the Julius Caesar movie “Emperor” for Lionsgate and entered into exclusive negotiations with the studio. However, once “Pan” flopped at the box office, the studio abruptly ended talks with Wright.

One veteran dealmaker told TheWrap that a production insider admitted Lionsgate was going “back to the drawing board,” indicating that the studio thought it had found its director in recent weeks.

Also Read: 5 Reasons 'Pan' Got the Hook at Box Office

Lionsgate, for its part, declined to comment for this story, while a representative for Wright deemed it “categorically untrue.” One of the film’s producers acknowledged there was a meeting and several calls but that a deal never closed, suggesting that Wright couldn’t have been “fired” after “Pan” if he was never officially “hired” in the first place.

Either way, the situation is the latest example of how reactive studios have become in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, where perception plays a vital role in getting a job.

“Pan” may have been panned by critics, but by all accounts, it was an expensive movie that was made by committee at Warner Bros. Wright shares the blame, of course, but it’s not as if he was allowed to do whatever he wanted on such a big-budget studio production.

Also Read: $150 Million Peter 'Pan' Reboot Goes Splat at Box Office

So why did Lionsgate call off negotiations for “Emperor”? Surely, someone at the studio had seen the garish “Pan” trailer or heard the bad buzz throughout the industry. If Lionsgate didn’t hire Wright off of “Pan,” why did it play such a huge factor in the studio’s decision to back out of discussions with the well-regarded British director?

After all, Wright’s particular skill set didn’t evaporate overnight, and the fact remains that Wright is a talent magnet who has helped his actors score Oscar nominations — including Keira Knightley for “Pride & Prejudice” and Saoirse Ronan for “Atonement.” He’s far better suited to a bold historical epic such as “Emperor” than a misconceived children’s movie.

The bigger the budget, the more is at stake — not just for the studios footing the bill, but also for the filmmaker whose career is on the line. While Warner Bros. will make more risky big-budget movies after “Pan,” it can be harder for a director like Wright to recover.

That said, there’s little doubt that he will — it just won’t be with “Emperor,” which is envisioned as a potential franchise starter by Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment.

Also Read: Hillary Clinton Movie 'Rodham' Dropped by Lionsgate (Exclusive)

The film is based on the first two books in Conn Iggulden’s “Emperor” series — “The Gates of Rome” and “The Field of Swords” — that establish the relationship between military leader Julius Caesar and Marcus Brutus, a great fighter who was Caesar’s best friend and eventual enemy. The books cover the duo’s rise to the top of the Roman Empire and the political and romantic relationships they develop along the way.

Lionsgate’s Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger called “Emperor” a “compelling series of books” and described the project as a “fresh and inventive coming-of-age story” set in ancient Rome.

Producers Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari said “Emperor” combines “the sweep of ‘300’ with the intrigue of ‘Game of Thrones'” to tell the Julius Caesar story that nobody knows.”

“Emperor” was announced as the first film for Nigel Sinclair and Guy East‘s White Horse Pictures. Sinclair, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, will produce with Nunnari, Canton and Matt Jackson.

23 White Actors Miscast in Nonwhite Roles, From Mickey Rooney to Emma Stone (Photos)

Hollywood just doesn't seem to learn from its mistakes as it continues to cast white actors in nonwhite roles again and again. And again.

Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Roger Ebert, Beatrice Aguirre Zuniga
Katharine Hepburn in "Dragon Seed" (1944)

Caucasian Hepburn played a Chinese woman in this big-screen adaptation of the Pearl S. Buck novel.

MGM
Marlon Brando in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956)

Brando starred as an Okinawan translator for the U.S. Army in this comedy about the American occupation of the island nation.

MGM
John Wayne in "Conquerer" (1956)

Wayne was cast as Mongol conquerer Genghis Khan in what's considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time.

RKO Radio Pictures
Charlton Heston in "Touch of Evil" (1958)

Heston starred as Ramon Miguel Vargas in the 1958 crime film, a Mexican narcotics officer.

Universal
Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961)

More caricature than character, Rooney starred as the buck-toothed, Japanese Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 film, which has faced volumes of criticism since.

Paramount Pictures
Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" (1961)

Wood plays a Puerto Rican teenager in the 1961 musical film, although she was Russian-American in real life.

United Artists
Laurence Olivier in "Othello" (1965)

Not only did the white actor play a Moor in 1965's "Othello," he did so while wearing blackface.

Warner Bros.
Elvis Presley in "Stay Away, Joe" (1968)

The "Jailhouse Rock" singer played a Native American rodeo rider in the 1968 comedy Western. Along with this miscasting, many also criticized the film's use of stereotypes and offensive humor.

Movieclips Classic Trailers
Peter Sellers in "The Party" (1968)

The English actor wore brown face for his role as Hrundi V. Bakshi, an Indian actor, in the comedy film. "The Party" was also called out for its racist humor and perpetuating South Asian stereotypes.

Movieclips
Al Pacino in "Scarface" (1983)

Pacino plays a Cuban gangster in the 1983 film, and many criticized his over-the-top accent as offensive.

Universal
Anthony Hopkins in "Mask of Zorro" (1998)

Welsh actor Hopkins starred as the Spanish Zorro, a.k.a. Don Diego de la Vega, in the 1998 film.

Tristar
Rob Schneider in "50 First Dates" (2004)

Schneider seems to play a different ethnicity in every Adam Sandler movie. In "The Waterboy" he was the "You can do it!" guy, in "Big Daddy," he was a Middle-Eastern deliveryman, and in "50 First Dates," he plays a native Hawaiian. Badly.

Columbia Pictures
Angelina Jolie in "A Mighty Heart" (2007)

In the 2007 drama film, Jolie plays Mariane Pearl, a real-life journalist of Afro-Chinese-Cuban descent, though the actress herself is of mixed-European descent.

Roger Ebert
Mike Myers in "The Love Guru" (2008)

Myers played an Indian-American guru in the roundly panned movie, in which he dressed up a lot of racist jokes in a terrible accent.

See Video: Mike Myers Was ‘Super Proud’ Standing Next to Kanye West When He Dissed George W. Bush

Paramount
Every lede character in "21" (2008)

The movie follows a group of math students who come up with a card-counting strategy to win big in Vegas. While the movie had a predominantly white cast, the real-life MIT students were Asian American.

Sony
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (2010)
Gyllenhaal plays a Middle Eastern prince in the film, which many called "insulting" and "the perfect example of whitewashing."

Also Read: Jake Gyllenhaal in Talks to Join Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘The Current War’

Disney
Ben Affleck in "Argo" (2012)

Affleck plays Mexican American Tony Mendez, a former CIA technical-operations officer whose life this film is based on.

Warner Bros.
Johnny Depp in "Lone Ranger" (2013)

Johnny Depp played a Native American in Disney's film, which sparked outrage among fans and critics despite the actor's claims that his great-grandmother had mostly Cherokee blood.

Also Read: Disney CFO: ‘Lone Ranger’ Flop Shows Non-Franchise Movies Need to Cost Less

Disney
Benedict Cumberbatch in "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013)

In this "Star Trek" installment, Cumberbatch plays villainous Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically engineered human from North India.

IMDb
Rooney Mara in "Pan" (2015)

Mara was cast as Tiger Lily, a Native American, in the 2015 film based on the Peter Pan story.

Also Read: Rooney Mara in Negotiations to Play Tiger Lily in Warner Bros.’ ‘Pan’

Warner Bros.
Emma Stone in "Aloha" (2015)

Stone played a Chinese/Swedish/Hawaiian woman in this critically and commercially disappointing Cameron Crowe romantic comedy.

Also Read: Cameron Crowe Apologizes for Emma Stone’s Asian ‘Aloha’ Character: ‘Was Based on a Real-Life, Red-Head Local’

Sony
Juliette Binoche in "The 33" (2015)

Binoche plays a Chilean miner in the 2015 film, which is based on the real events of the 2010 mining disaster.

Beatrice Aguirre Zuniga
Scarlett Johansson in "Ghost in the Shell" (2017)

Scarlett Johansson, who consistently takes on roles for nonwhite actors, plays the Japanese lead in this lackluster film. Nevertheless, this miscasting sparked a larger conversation on Hollywood's whitewashing of Asian roles.

Paramount Pictures