After Disney Studios fired director James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 in July, the cast – including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan and Bradley Cooper – has signed an open letter in support of the director. James was removed after a series of his ‘offensive’ tweets between 2008 and 2011 resurfaced the internet, which features jokes about rape and paedophilia.
In the open letter, the cast referenced a change.org petition asking for James to be reinstated. As of Monday morning, the petition had attracted more than 3,30,000 signatures.
"We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss," began the letter, which was posted by Chris in an Instagram post, where he also shared a letter co-signed by the cast. "In that time, we have been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Vol 3, as well as discouraged by those who were so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories around him." He added that although he doesn’t support James’s inappropriate jokes from years ago, the latter is a good man.
Though Disney and Marvel Studios didn’t announce an official release date for the film, James was said to have been working on a script. The American filmmaker previously said the film would open in 2020. James’ two Guardians films have been big hits for Disney, with 2014 original earning about $773 million globally and last year's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 earning $863 million.