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DC Studios has reportedly decided not to move forward with Sgt. Rock, its WWII-era action movie that was scheduled to begin shooting this summer. To be directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Colin Farrell, the film was already in preproduction when it was shelved, allegedly due to scheduling conflicts, though one unnamed source suggested that studio executives were wary of Guadagnino’s expertise in making action films. The project is reported to have a lowball budget of $74 million.
Other sources were quoted as saying that DC is reevaluating the project and that it may be shot in England during the summer of 2026.
The proposed film was going to be a mashup of WWII action and mysticism, with Sgt. Rock poised to work with a female French Resistance fighter in preventing the Spear of Destiny from falling into the hands of the Nazis. According to legend, this was the spear that was used to wound Christ at the time of his crucifixion. The screenplay for Sgt. Rock was penned by Justin Kuritzkes, who’d previously written two other scripts for Guadagnino: Queer and Challengers.
Originated by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, the Sgt. Rock character first appeared in comic books in 1959, making him one of DC’s oldest heroes. There had been earlier attempts to make a movie about him—Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis were among the candidates for the role—but nothing had materialized until now. Among the screenwriters who worked on the project over the years have been David Peoples, Steven E. de Souza, John Milius, and Oscar winner Brian Helgeland. Directors Guy Ricchie and Francis Lawrence were also under consideration for the project more than a decade ago.
Luca Guadagnino has a number of other projects underway at the moment, including Amazon MGM’s After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, which will make its debut later this year. He’s also considering doing new adaptations of American Psycho for Lionsgate, and of Lord of the Flies for Warner Bros.