Why Did Gambit Lose Director Rupert Wyatt

Why Did ‘Gambit’ Lose Director Rupert Wyatt?

By Angie Han/Sept. 30, 2015 3:30 pm EST

Nor are Wyatt’s talents as a director in doubt. His Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a critically acclaimed hit, and he’s been in high demand for projects like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Londongrad, and The Equalizer. But as you may have guessed by glancing at that list, he’s starting to earn a reputation for dropping out of projects.

In most or all of the cases, it seems, the situation is the same: Wyatt signs on, struggles to convince the studio to back his vision, and walks away. Says one studio exec of Wyatt, “I think he’s a very principled guy. He wants to make the best version of something, and he’s so desperately afraid of making something not good that it’s easier to walk away than be pushed by committee.”