David Cronenberg says he turned down True Detective because the script was ‘bad’

By Christine Persaud October 2, 2015

cronenberg turned down true detective due to bad script david — Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com

Ouch. If you thought you were the only one terribly disappointed by the second season of HBO series True Detective, think again. Eclectic director David Cronenberg says he turned down directing the first episode of season two because he thought the script was “bad.”

In an interview with IndieWire, the Canadian-born director known for a long list of films in the psychological thriller genre, like Dead Ringers and Scanners, said that he was approached to direct the inaugural episode, and did, in fact consider it. “But,” he says, “I thought that the script was bad, so I didn’t do it.”

More: Vin Diesel wants original Fast and Furious director for Furious 8

Adding another subtle, perhaps unintentional dig, he stated, “In TV, the director is just a traffic cop, but on the other hand, it is work and there’s a lot of it.”

Cronenberg’s recent projects include 2012’s Cosmopolis, and 2014’s Maps to the Stars, which stars Julianne Moore, John Cusack, and Robert Pattinson. For what it’s worth, Maps to the Stars has a less-than-stellar 60 percent rating on RottenTomatoes.

Justin Lin, best known for his directorial work in the Fast and Furious franchise, ended up taking on the directorial role for the first and second episodes in True Detective’s second act. The almost universal reception of the season was that it was hard to follow, and the characters (save for perhaps Colin Farrell’s character’s tortured soul) weren’t all that compelling.

Cary Fukunaga, who directed the first season, saw widespread acclaim for the show, which was nominated for and took home a number of awards. That inevitably led to especially high expectations for this second season. Fukunaga did serve as an executive producer on season two, but clearly left the leg work in the hands of others, and admitted to Vulture last month that he hadn’t even yet seen the season, while also suggesting that he had no part in it beyond being the EP.

Topics

Christine Persaud

Contributor

Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…

Entertainment

The most underrated horror sequel of this century is finally streaming again on Max

A group of people gather in Doctor Sleep.

In terms of traumatic childhoods, few movie characters have ever had it as bad as Danny Torrance. The young psychic child at the center of The Shining is not only relentlessly preyed upon one winter by the malevolent ghosts of a haunted hotel, but he and his mother are also nearly killed by his ax-wielding father. He experiences so many unimaginable horrors over the span of just a few months that one can't help but feel both relief and concern for him when The Shining ends.

Danny's traumatic time at the Overlook Hotel fittingly haunts writer-director Mike Flanagan's Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, the film attempts to bring the story of Dan Torrance (played as an adult by Ewan McGregor) to a close. In doing so, it ends up telling a very different tale than its revered predecessor. If The Shining is about the dangers of alcoholism and male rage, then Doctor Sleep is about how children survive abuse in a world that seems intent on tamping them down and stealing their "shine."

Entertainment

Hoopla offers a library of Joker and Harley Quinn comics timed to Folie à Deux

Joker sits at a table while Harley Quin sits behind him.

One of the most anticipated releases of the fall, Joker: Folie à Deux, is being met with a somewhat cooler reception than the first film. If you're looking for great content about Joker and Harley Quinn, though, the movie theater is not the only place you can find it.

Timed to the movie's release, Hoopla, an online reading service that partners with local libraries, has announced that they have a collection of comics and other media related to the superhero spinoff. In fact, they have an entire Joker collection that features Joker and Harley Quinn comics, as well as the soundtracks to both films and Harlequin, Lady Gaga's new album, which was released to tie in with the film. The collection also includes Hoopla's exclusive collection of DC Manga, including Joker: One Operation Joker. In total, the collection includes more than 50 comic books and albums to explore.

Entertainment

Congratulations, Hollywood, you’ve ruined the Joker for good

Joker sits at a table while Harley Quin sits behind him.

This weekend, Joaquin Phoenix returns to his Oscar-winning role as Arthur Fleck, aka the Joker, in Todd Phillips' Joker: Folie à Deux. Ostensibly a sequel to Joker, Folie à Deux is less a continuation of the story begun in the 2019 film and more a denouement of it. It takes big swings, but it seems to have lost the plot. That's largely because, like its predecessor, it lacks a basic understanding of the titular character. The critical and expected commercial underperformance of Folie à Deux hints that Hollywood has done what it always has and milked every last drop from the Joker cow.

Once upon a time, the Clown Prince of Crime was an icon of the comic book world, a titan of entertainment with more lives than Catwoman. People used words like "complex" and "three-dimensional" to describe him, separating him from the cheap villains he once shared the spotlight with. A few years ago, the Joker was a precious role that earned Oscars for his performers and elevated any project it was a part of. Flash-forward to now, and what you have is a ghost of what once was, a joke that has been told so many times that it no longer has a punch line. Because, now that the Joker has gone from villain to antihero to champion of the oppressed, what's left for him to be other than a joke himself?
Let the Joker laugh