Scott Derrickson, director of Hellraiser: Inferno, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the first Doctor Strange film was originally set to direct the Doctor Strange sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — a film which was ultimately directed by Sam Raimi when Derrickson stepped away from the project, citing creative differences. Derrickson divulged more about what ultimately caused him to step down from the Doctor Strange sequel on a recent episode of the The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast.
“All I can say is that what we said publicly is exactly the truth,” Derrickson said. “We had real creative differences. You know, the movie I wanted to make and how I wanted to make it was different than–it was just increasingly obvious that we were pulling against each other.”
Derrickson added that such glaring differences between the studio heads and the filmmaker results in a “really bad movie,” which was a clear sign for him that he “had to bounce.”
“And that’s how you make a really bad movie, I think,” Derrickson continued. “When the producer or the studio and the filmmaker are making different movies, you end up with a monstrosity and, you know, that’s why I had to bounce.”
Although Raimi’s vision in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness exhibited a fair share of horror movie constituents, Derrickson stated that his version would have been an “extreme departure from the first film,” and a “genuine horror film” of sorts.
Despite stepping down from the Doctor Strange sequel, Derrickson says there is no “bad blood” between he and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
“Yeah, I went to the premiere,” Derrickson explained. “I’m still friends with Kevin [Feige] and everything with me and Marvel is really cool. They invited me to the premiere and I went. And I’m friends with Sam [Raimi]. I love Sam, so there’s no bad blood over that.”
What do you think of the reasons Scott Derrickson gave for leaving the Doctor Strange sequel? Let us know in the comments.
