Love and Monsters’ Michael Matthews replaces Ridley Scott as director of Disney’s Merlin movie

Once upon a time, Ridley Scott was set to direct a Merlin movie for Disney based on the novels by T.A. Barron, but Deadline has reported that the studio has now tapped Love and Monsters director Michael Matthews to replace him.

As we know, Ridley Scott has plenty of projects on his slate and Deadline said that it’s that busy schedule that forced him to step away from the Merlin movie. T.A. Barron’s Merlin Saga follows the “adventures and training of young Merlin on the mist-shrouded isle of Fincayra, an enchanted land between earth and sky that is being destroyed by blight. With this land’s inhabitants to guide him, the boy will learn that Fincayra’s fate and his own quest are strangely intertwined.” The project is still in the early stages of development at Disney and the latest draft of the script has been penned by Chris Weitz (Pinocchio). As for Ridley Scott, the prolific director has two films set to be released this year, including The Last Duel and House of Gucci. The Last Duel is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Matt Rooney.

Love and Monsters was a post-apocalyptic romantic comedy that starred Dylan O’Brien as Joel Dawson, a young man who starts searching for his high-school girlfriend seven years after giant monsters have wiped out most of the human race. Emerging from his underground bunker, Dawson soon finds himself over his head with the huge amount of dangerous monsters roaming the landscape, but he teams up with Clyde, an expert hunter who teaches Joel how to survive the monster apocalypse. In addition to Dylan O’Brien, Love and Monsters also starred Jessica Henwick and Michael Rooker. Like many films during the age of COVID, the release of Love and Monsters was pushed back several times before Paramount finally released the film via VOD last October to rave reviews.