James Gunn Quotes

When I get my hands on painting materials I don't give a damn about other people's painting... every generation must start again afresh.

To direct a sequel to somebody else's work is not interesting to me.

I wanna take what I'm doing and create something around it as opposed to trying to fit into someone else's world.

I want to be my own artist and reflect my creativity.. I don't want to be turned into a pop princess; that's not who I am.

I feel like the point of being an artist is to have your own voice: to do it the way you would do it and not the way anyone else would do it. If you're a strong enough writer, then that voice is going to come out all the time, and I can't stop it from coming out, no matter what I do.

The downside of videos is that it will put my vision in front of other people, so they might not get the chance to create their own.

Filmmakers have to really find a unique take on something if they're going to explore an already-explored genre of movies.

I never had the influence of any other singer in my music, so I sounded like myself all the time.

Don't write your books for people who won't like them. Give yourself wholly to the kind of book you want to write, and don't try to please readers who like something different.

The ultimate thing is creating your own stuff and making projects for yourself. That's what Seth Rogen does. He's writing and producing a lot of the movies that he's the lead in.

If I make two films in a year, they'll be different. This is my style - I can't have just one way.

I've hardly had an avant-garde career... If you're going to make a film, you have to try to make sure it comes out of a childlike passion, as if you're doing it for the first time.

I think the moment you start trying to please a fan base is when you start going downhill. I'm going to always, always write about what I want, even if it doesn't necessarily cater to most of them.

I sometimes listen to music I made and find it to be something I wouldn't want to buy from a store, if there was a store. When it's like that, you have to make what you want to hear.

I write my own songs. I made my own videos. I pick my producers. Nothing goes out without my permission. It's all authentic.

The challenge of a revival is how to bring something fresh. The reward is the opportunity to add different flourishes. You're dealing with different actors, designers and a different time.

I wanted to make my sophomore film as different as possible. I didn't want to be pigeonholed. I didn't want to be identifiable.

I hate remakes of TV shows - I didn't like the new Charlie's Angels at all - and I just don't see the point of going back and doing the same thing over again. Baywatch was fun and successful, probably because we didn't know what the heck we were doing.

I think we're quite unique in that we do have our own sound and approach and we don't really care what's going on elsewhere... we've never wanted to be part of another trend or movement.

Writing is much more satisfying on a certain level than acting ever was. Because you're not interpreting someone else's original idea, you can come up with your own.

When you put something out there into the world, there's all these words you don't want to hear, that you hope people don't say. I don't like anything that starts with 're' - like retro, reinvent, recreate - I hate that. It's always like living in the past - copying, emulating.

It's no fun for me to cover a song and produce it the exact same way as it already exists. When I hear that happening, I have to say, 'What's the point?'

If you're going to reboot something, reboot it in a totally original way that speaks to a new generation.

If I was doing a musical, I would never listen to the cast album, because I wanted to do my version of something.

As a director, I design every movie to be true to itself, and damn it if they like it, and damn it if they don't.