Emerald Fennell Reveals Why ‘Zatanna’ Didn’t Happen

In a conversation with Happy Sad Confused, Emerald Fennell (Saltburn and Wuthering Heights) has revealed what went wrong with her rumoured Zatanna project back in 2021.

At the time, it was rumoured that the rising star writer/director was set to write a film for DC focusing on the female magician character Zatanna. The film would have been the character’s debut on the big screen after previously appearing in animated form, as well as in a guest-starring capacity on Smallville (played by Serinda Swan). The film was due to have been part of the JJ. Abrams‘ Justice League Dark Universe and was one of several projects that fell through despite being in development. It was widely believed that this was because James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, but Fennell said that actually it was because it was “really dark”.

“I think it was demented because I was probably going through it at the time. I just finished Promising Young Woman, and there was this huge thing in this world that I’d never operated in. I was like, ‘Okay, how do I make the version of a superhero movie that I would connect to emotionally?’ [I was a] woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

So it’s a script reflective of a woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown, I would say. I suppose it just meant that it was probably too far away from the genre. It was really dark. I haven’t read it for a really long time because I found it really difficult.

I love JJ so much, and he took a chance on offering me to do it, and I really wanted to deliver something amazing for them, and I always felt like I hadn’t quite delivered the thing that they wanted.”

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Since this project was rumoured, Fennell has gone on to have huge success with Saltburn in 2023, and has another release due to come out this weekend, Wuthering Heights. It’s hard to tell how well Zatanna would have done, given the failure of Justice League Dark, but based on her other projects and this interview, it definitely would have stood out from other superhero projects!

Wuthering Heights is in Cinemas now.

About the Author

Danny Humby

Editor

Danny is a freelance media creative with a background spanning marketing, journalism and governance. From 2021 to 2024 he was Chair of the Student Radio Association and is currently a Trustee at Chichester Festival Theatre. He holds an MSc in Marketing and a BA in Film and Television from Solent University, and remains passionate about supporting young people, the arts, and charitable organisations to help broaden their reach and impact. He can be found under @popcornandpace on Instagram.

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