Filmmaker Alex Garland, Director of Civil War, Announces Extended Hiatus from Filmmaking

The Guardian interview also noted that Garland still plans to do screenwriting work, which will be his focus during his break from directing. This comes as both important and welcome news, given Garland’s stellar output as a screenwriter in the past. As a writer-director, his run of “Ex Machina,” “Annihilation,” the TV show “Devs,” and yes, even “Men” (the closest things we’ve gotten to a proper live-action “Attack on Titan”) is already fantastic, even before factoring “Civil War” in.

And yet, his work as a screenwriter resulted in two of the best British movies of the 2000s: director Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later” and “Sunshine.” The former continues to influence zombie movies to this day, while “Sunshine” is one of the best sci-fi movies of this century, period. Perhaps this is an opportunity for Garland to go back to collaborating with other directors as he steps down from the job himself say, with the highly anticipated “28 Years Later?”

It’s still a shame, though, given Garland’s reasons for walking away. The man has often talked about how taxing directing is on him. What’s more, he’s admitted to only really directing “out of convenience” and anxiety upon having a director mess with his writing.

Honestly, this is as good a reason to step away from a job as anything, and who knows maybe he’ll find a passion for directing once again down the line.

“Civil War” opens in theaters on April 12, 2024.