James Gunn
James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966)[n 1] 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.[1] Under DC Studios, Gunn will co-produce and executive produce every film and television series under the upcoming DC Universe (DCU) media franchise alongside Safran, which will act as a soft-reboot of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). He will also continue to write and direct various projects set in the DCU, including the upcoming film Superman (2025).
For other people named James Gunn, see James Gunn (disambiguation).
James Gunn
- Film director
- film producer
- screenwriter
- studio executive
1989–present
Co-chairman and Co-CEO of DC Studios
- Sean Gunn (brother)
- Matt Gunn (brother)
- Brian Gunn (brother)
- Mark Gunn (cousin)
He also wrote and directed the web series James Gunn's PG Porn (2008–2009), the HBO Max original series Peacemaker (2022–present) and Creature Commandos (2024), and the Disney+ original special The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). Other projects he is known for is writing for the 2004 remake of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), writing the live-action adaptation of Scooby Doo (2002), and its sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), writing and producing the horror-action film The Belko Experiment (2016), producing the superhero-horror film Brightburn (2019), and contributing to comedy-anthology film Movie 43 (2013) (directing the segment "Beezel") and the 2012 hack-and-slash video game Lollipop Chainsaw.
Early life
James Francis Gunn Jr.[2] was born on August 5, 1966[3][n 1] in St. Louis, Missouri,[4] to parents James F. Gunn, an attorney, and Leota "Lee" (Hynek).[6][7][8] He was raised Catholic[9] in the St Louis suburb municipality of Manchester, Missouri.[10][11] He has five siblings — actor Sean, actor and political writer Matt, screenwriter Brian, Patrick, and Beth.[12][13][14] Gunn is of Irish and Jewish descent[15] his father coming from an Irish immigrant family.[16] Gunn has stated that his family's surname was originally the Irish name MacGilgunn and that it means "sons to the servants of the god of the dead"; it actually means "son of the brown youth."[17][18][19][20]
Growing up, Gunn was influenced by low-budget films such as Night of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th. He read magazines like Fangoria and attended genre movie screenings, including the original Dawn of the Dead at the Tivoli Theatre in St. Louis. At the age of 12, he began making 8 mm zombie films with his brothers in the woods near their home.[21]
Gunn and his brothers all attended the Jesuit St. Louis University High School, where he graduated in 1984.[5][6] He went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Louis University.[22] While at Saint Louis University, Gunn created political cartoons for the school's student weekly, The University News.[23] Gunn said that, at an unspecified time in his college education, "I went to two years undergraduate film school at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. But I was pretty screwed up at the time, and had to leave. Years later I went to graduate school at the Columbia University School of Fine Arts but I studied prose writing, not film writing."[24] He earned a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University in 1995.[25]
Career
Music
While living in St. Louis, Gunn founded a band, The Icons, in 1989, serving as lead vocalist. The group released the album Mom, We Like It Here on Earth in 1994, and its songs "Sunday" and "Walking Naked" were featured in the film Tromeo and Juliet. The Icons disbanded in the mid-1990s.[26] Gunn has continued to work in music, composing songs for Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and Movie 43.
Personal life
Gunn married actress Jenna Fischer on October 7, 2000.[6] After seven years of marriage, Gunn and Fischer announced their separation in a joint statement on September 5, 2007,[87] divorcing in 2008.[88] The two remained friends. In 2010, Fischer persuaded Gunn to cast Rainn Wilson, her co-star on The Office, in Gunn's film Super.[21]
Gunn has been in a relationship with actress Jennifer Holland since 2015.[89] In February 2022, Holland and Gunn became engaged,[90] and were married at the end of September 2022.[91]
He has a dog named Oz, adopted from a shelter in 2022. Gunn has regularly shared photos of the dog and promoted #AdoptDontShop.[92] For that reason as well as his CGI work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, PETA declared Gunn to be their 2023 Person of the Year.[93]
Gunn was raised in a Catholic family and has mentioned how prayer continues to play an important role in his life,[94] but has also said that he is, "in some ways, anti-religion".[95]