Filmmaker Nia DaCosta said she had always wanted to make a Marvel movie because “she was a big comic book nerd growing up,” but revealed that the reality of directing the mega-budget 2023 studio film The Marvels was a far different experience than she could have imagined.
Speaking at Dublin’s second annual screenwriting festival in Dublin, the Little Woods and Candyman director admits that when she came aboard to direct The Marvels she “stepped into a system” and she had to “lean into the process.”
“They had a date, and they were prepping certain things, and you just have to lean into the process hardcore,” she said during a detailed conversation with filmmaker Kate Dolan. “The way they make those films is very different to the way, ideally, I would make a film, so you just have to lean into the process and hope for the best. The best didn’t happen this time but you kind of have to trust in the machine.
“It was interesting because there was a certain point when I was like, ‘Ok, this isn’t going to be the movie that I pitched or even the first version of the movie that I shot’ so I realised that this is now an experience and it’s learning curve and it really makes you stronger as a filmmaker in terms of your ability to navigate.”
The Marvels was the lowest grossing film in the MCU after it was released in 2023, with net losses of the film sitting around $237M.
After the experience, DaCosta said she felt compelled to make something that would be almost an antidote to the studio system and the writer-director decided that her next project would be Hedda, her reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s famed 1891 stage play Hedda Gabler.
“I called my team, and I said that I need to make Hedda,” she said. “I had written it years ago and I said that I really needed to go back to that because this isn’t fulfilling in the way I need it to be.”
The film stars Tessa Thompson, whom DaCosta had worked with on her debut feature Little Woods. It also stars Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nina Hoss and Nicholas Pinnock.
Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler revolves around Hedda Tesman, a newlywed stifled by societal norms. Frustrated and trpped, she resorts to manipulation and destructive actions. As secrets unravel, the play explores themes of power, gender roles and the tragic consequences of societal expectations in the late 19th century.
DaCosta revealed to the audience that the Orion Pictures production was set to be released this October.
The filmmaker also touched on her other upcoming film, the second instalment of the upcoming 28 Years Later trilogy from Danny Boyle and Alex Garland. “I’m really proud of these movies,” she said, adding that her pitch for 28 Years Later was a “long conversations with producers.”
“I told them that I wasn’t going to make a Danny Boyle movie because that would be impossible and also not of interest to me as a filmmaker,” she said, adding that she hopes that she has created a “fresh take” and “individual language” for the film she made.