He was a musician and became a director; He was a director and became CEO: Who is James Gunn?

James Gunn was born on August 5, 1966, in St. Louis, Missouri. He spent his childhood in St. Louis and Manchester, Missouri. He has five siblings: actor Sean, actor and political writer Matt, screenwriter Brian, Patrick and Beth. He is of Irish and Jewish descent. He says the Gunn family surname is essentially Irish MacGilgunn, meaning "son of the servants of the god of death."

While living in St. Louis, Gunn formed the band The Icons in 1989, for which he was the lead singer. The group released the album Mom, We Like It Here on Earth in 1994. The band's songs Sunday and Walking Naked were used in the movie Tromeo and Juliet. The Icons disbanded in the mid-1990s. Gunn continued to work in music, scoring for the films Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and Movie 43.

James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and studio executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with Tromeo and Juliet (1997). He then began working as a director, starting with the horror-comedy film Slither (2006), and moving to the superhero genre with Super (2010), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), The Suicide Squad (2021), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). In 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery hired Gunn and Peter Safran to become co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios.

In his youth, he was influenced by low-budget films such as Night of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th. He read magazines like Fangoria and attended horror movie premieres, such as the premiere of the original Zombie at the Tivoli Cinema in St Louis. When he was 12, he was shooting zombie movies with his brothers in the woods near their home with an 8 mm camera.

Gunn and his siblings attended Jesuit St. Louis University High School, from which Gunn graduated in 1984. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Saint Louis University. While studying at Saint Louis University, he drew political cartoons for the university's weekly student newspaper, The University News. During his college education, Gunn "went to film school at Loyola Marymount [University] in Los Angeles for two years. But he was very unsuccessful at the time and had to drop out. In the following years, he went to Columbia University School of Fine Arts for a master's program, but he studied prose." He received his master's degree from Columbia University in 1995, not as a film screenwriter.

Gunn began his film career in 1995 with the independent film Tromeo and Juliet, for which he wrote a script at Troma Entertainment. While working with Troma co-founder and mentor Lloyd Kaufman, he learned screenwriting, film production, location selection, directing, distribution of films, and poster design. After contributing to various Troma films, in 2000 he wrote the script and produced the superhero comedy film The Specials, directed by Craig Mazin.

James Gunn married actress Jenna Fischer in 2000. The couple's marriage ended in 2008.

October 2022

James Gunn and Peter Safran became the new CEOs of DC Studios at Warner Bros Discovery, which has produced successful films such as Wonder Woman and Superman.

Gunn and Safran, who have experience in the superhero genre, have their signature on productions such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Aquaman, and Suicide Squad in the MCU and DC.

In recent weeks, after former DC Films president Walter Hamada left the company, Peter Safran's name began to be discussed. However, as a final decision, the company decided to make the two successful names joint co-president and CEO of DC Studios.

James Gunn worked as a producer, director, and writer on productions such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers, and Suicide Squad for DC's rival Marvel. Gunn will now work exclusively for DC.

According to the information obtained; While James Gunn will focus on the creative side of DC Studios, Peter Safran will be involved in the business and production side.

September 2023

Every actor in Guardians of the Galaxy brought something special to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there was one actor that director James Gunn wanted from the very beginning.

In Marvel Studios' documentary, Gunn revealed that Zoe Saldaña was the only Guardians of the Galaxy actress who appeared in his initial presentation for the film.

According to his account, Gunn pitched Guardians of the Galaxy with the help of a small book containing visual references to Marvel and casting choices.

Before appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy, Saldaña, 45, co-starred in 2009's Avatar, the highest-grossing movie of all time.