Among the movies that are being fast-tracked into production is the sequel to "Suicide Squad." After some time of having no director nor writer to take charge of the production, Gavin O'Connor has now signed on to write and direct the villain-heavy sequel.
There are two movies in the DC film slate that are expected to be in production next year, one is "Shazam!" which has already started pre-production, and the other being "Suicide Squad 2." Warner Bros. has signed on "The Accountant" writer Gavin O'Connor to helm the production and to even write the script, the first draft being written by Zach Penn.
Seeing as production is not going to start until fall next year due to the cast's busy schedules, Warner Bros. still has time to get someone to write the script for the second installment. This was mostly due to Will Smith's schedules as he is set to play the Genie in the live-action remake of "Aladdin." Smith, who plays the expert marksman rogue named Deadshot, was praised by critics of the film for his performance.
O'Connor was in the studio's shortlist for directors, Jaume Collet-Serra and Mel Gibson being the top choices until they ultimately passed the project to take on others. Collet-Serra was the closest to getting the production off the ground until he stepped down.
O'Connor succeeds David Ayer, who directed the commercially successful "Suicide Squad" that premiered last year. Ayer will be directing another film that also stars Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn in "Gotham City Sirens." All of the surviving characters from the first "Suicide Squad" movie will be returning to reprise their roles, including Jared Leto's Joker. Leto and Robbie will also be reprising their roles for the upcoming Joker-Harley Quinn movie.
"Suicide Squad 2" has no official release date yet, but since production is not going to start until fall of 2018, it is most likely going to premiere either late 2019 or early 2020.
