The Real Reason Cate Shortland Was Picked To Direct Black Widow
Cate Shortland explained to Variety that when Marvel first offered her the "Black Widow" directing job, she turned it down, not fully realizing how her indie film sensibilities might fit into the plans of one of the biggest film franchises in history. As it turns out, Shortland was Marvel's top pick to direct "Black Widow," with none other than Scarlett Johansson herself requesting she be the filmmaker to bring the movie to life.
When Shortland was at first unwilling to accept the "Black Widow" gig, Johansson intervened, contacting Shortland under other pretenses before working up to discussing the film. "She told me how much she had liked some of my movies, and then I told her how much I have liked some of her performances. It was like a courtship," Shortland said.
Johansson cited Shortland's film "Lore," which she described to Variety as "a perfect film," as the primary reason for her interest in working with Shortland. "It was very important to me that the person that directed ['Black Widow'] had to have made a masterpiece and then some other good movies," Johansson said. "And I really think 'Lore' is really so close to [a masterpiece]."
Shortland explained that after speaking with Johansson, and after Johansson met Shortland's daughter over Zoom while they were on a call, she dove into the world of Marvel movies. The complexity of the MCU nearly put her off — "It didn't get less crazy. It got more crazy," she told Variety — but she couldn't resist the creative freedom that "Black Widow" would afford her. "I got hooked on the idea of trying to tell a really personal, intimate story in amongst so much beauty and spectacle," Shortland said. "When I really decided that I wanted to do it, I decided 150% — like, I never wanted to do anything as much as this, in a way."
She then put together an inspiration reel to screen for Marvel's top executives to give an idea of what she wanted "Black Widow" to be, and the rest is history.
"Black Widow" will arrive in theaters and on Disney+ via Premier Access on Friday, July 9.
