Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Production Postponed--Report

As the search for a director continues, it looks like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may have to move its production start date. A new report says that production for the Marvel Cinematic Universe film has been put on hold.

The news comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which states a small group that was preparing for pre-production are being dismissed from their tasks and told they are free to find other work. It was expected that pre-production on the movie would begin in the fall prior to Disney firing director James Gunn.

The studio released Gunn from the franchise after a series of decade-old tweets that joked about rape and pedophilia--jokes that the director had previously discussed and apologized for. In the aftermath, the cast of the Guardians of the Galaxy films has come out in support of the director, with Dave Bautista (Drax) being a particularly vocal opponent of Disney's decision on social media.

"I will do what [I'm] legally obligated to do but [Guardians of the Galaxy] without [James Gunn] is not what I signed up for," he tweeted on August 5. "GOTG [without] [Gunn] just isn't GOTG." He also threatened to leave the franchise if Gunn's script for the third movie wasn't used.

According to THR, the production hold is seen as temporary as the studio looks for a director to take over the third Guardians film. "The timeline has been pushed out," a source tells the outlet.

A release date for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has not been announced. The Guardians team will next be seen in Avengers 4 when it releases on May 3, 2019.