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James Gunn
James
Gunn
Co-Chairman and CEO of DC Studios

James Gunn is the prolific filmmaker behind some of today鈥檚 most notable pop culture content and the Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran.  

Gunn鈥檚 film and television credits include the 海角社区国产精伦. feature 鈥淭he Suicide Squad,鈥 Marvel鈥檚 entire 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥 franchise, the Emmy-nominated HBO Max television series 鈥淭he Peacemaker,鈥 cult classic features 鈥淪lither,鈥 鈥淪uper,鈥 and many more. Most recently, Gunn wrote and directed the third and final 鈥淕uardians鈥 feature, 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,鈥 which was released on May 5, 2023. At the end of its opening weekend, the film exceeded its global expectations and had earned a whopping total of $289.3 million from international and domestic audiences and just recently passed $835 million worldwide ahead of its digital release.

On the filmmaking side, Gunn is next writing and directing the feature 鈥淪uperman,鈥 which will be released in theaters on July 2025.

In 2021, Gunn brought his trademark sensibilities to the 海角社区国产精伦. feature film 鈥淭he Suicide Squad鈥, which he wrote and directed. The film starred Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, and Joel Kinnaman reprising their roles from the DC franchise as well as a new group of characters led by Idris Elba, John Cena, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Mayling Ng, Steve Agee, Flula Borg, Storm Reid, Sean Gunn, Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, Pete Davidson, and more.  

Based on John Cena鈥檚 popular character in 鈥淭he Suicide Squad,鈥 Gunn created, wrote, and directed 鈥淭he Peacemaker,鈥 a spinoff series for HBO Max. The show debuted on January 13, 2022 to rave reviews and garnered an Emmy nomination. Gunn carefully curated the soundtrack for the series, which has been praised by critics and was highlighted in the viral dance sequence from the show鈥檚 opening credits.  

In 2014, Gunn brought to life what is now one of the most memorable franchises in the Marvel Universe, 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy.鈥 Gunn wrote and directed both 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥 and 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,鈥 which have earned a combined 1.5 billion dollars at the global box office.鈥疶he original was the second highest grossing film of 2014 and spent five weekends atop the charts, a record in Marvel history.  The franchise has garnered impressive reviews from film critics around the world, won the Critics鈥 Choice Award for Best Action Movie and was nominated for three Academy Awards, two Grammys, two BAFTAs, seven MTV Movie Awards and two People鈥檚 Choice Awards, amongst many others.  Gunn was personally nominated for a WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2014.  

Knowing what an important role music plays in a movie, Gunn personally chose every song included in the 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥 film soundtracks. The albums, Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and Awesome Mix Vol. 2, featured pop songs from the 1960鈥檚 & 70鈥檚 and were highly praised by critics as being a secondary character in the film that serves as its emotional core.  Awesome Mix Vol. 1 is the first soundtrack comprised entirely of previously released songs to ever reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts. Vol. 1 went on to become certified Platinum status; Vol. 2 finished 2017 as the country鈥檚 eighth highest-selling album with 600,000 copies sold, and has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.  

Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Gunn began his career at the age of twelve by making a zombie movie with an eight-millimeter camera and an actor, his brother Sean. Gunn got his start in the industry while attending Columbia University. He applied for a part-time job filing papers at famed B-movie studios Troma Entertainment, and was paid $150 to write the screenplay for the feature 鈥淭romeo & Juliet鈥 instead. In 1997, 鈥淭romeo鈥 became a cult hit, playing in theaters around the world, including over a year of midnight screenings in Los Angeles.  

Gunn left Troma to write and star in (along with Rob Lowe, Thomas Haden-Church, and Jamie Kennedy) the 2000 feature film, 鈥淭he Specials,鈥 about a group of superheroes on their day off.鈥疘n the same year, Bloomsbury Press released Gunn鈥檚 critically acclaimed novel 鈥淭he Toy Collector,鈥 the story of a hospital orderly who sells drugs to finance his escalating toy collecting addiction. He also wrote, with Lloyd Kaufman, the non-fiction book 鈥淎ll I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger,鈥 currently in its fifth printing.  

In 2004, Gunn wrote the live action 鈥淪cooby-Doo鈥 movie which grossed over $300 million worldwide.鈥疕e became the first screenwriter in history to write back-to-back hits standing at #1 at the weekend box office, with the critically-acclaimed and re-imagined 鈥淒awn of the Dead鈥 on March 19, 2004 and 鈥淪cooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed鈥 on March 26, 2004.  

Gunn鈥檚 love for the comedy and horror genres coalesced in his feature film directorial debut, 鈥淪lither,鈥 which he also wrote. The film was released by Universal in 2006 and stars Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks. 鈥淪lither鈥 is featured on Rotten Tomatoes as one of the 鈥淭op Ten All鈥揟ime Best Reviewed Horror Films,鈥 was named 鈥淭he Best Horror film of 2006鈥 by Rue Morgue Magazine, and garnered Gunn a Saturn Award and a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for his work on the film.  

Additionally, in 2010, Gunn directed the independent feature film, 鈥淪uper鈥 starring Rainn Wilson, Elliot Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon. It is the dark and comedic tale of a disturbed man who dresses up as a superhero to save his ex-wife from her drug-dealing new boyfriend.  鈥淪uper鈥 was an official selection at the Toronto Film Festival, was picked up by IFC Films, and is IFC鈥檚 top selling film ever on On-Demand.  

In 2012 Gunn released his first video game, Lollipop Chainsaw, with Suda 51 and 海角社区国产精伦, on Xbox and Playstation 3. In 2008 he created Xbox Live鈥檚 first original content, producing seven comedy shows by horror directors, and creating his own, 鈥淪parky & Mikaela.鈥濃疓unn鈥檚 additional credits include hosting the reality show Scream Queens for VH1 and writing and directing the comedy web series PG Porn, which has received over 70 million hits online, has been remade by Canal+ in France, and is one of the most profitable web series of all time.  

In 2019, Gunn produced the drama/thriller, 鈥淏rightburn鈥 starring Elizabeth Banks for Sony and produced the horror feature 鈥淭he Belko Expirement鈥 starring John Gallager Jr. and Tony Goldwyn for Orion Pictures.