Jane Campion Will Never Direct a Superhero Movie: ‘I Hate Them’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”

Jane Campion is not a fan of superhero movies. “I hate them,” the Oscar winner told me at the AFI Fest screening of her new drama, “The Power of the Dog.” “I actually hate them.”

Campion offered her thoughts when I asked if she would be interested in directing a superhero movie. “I think it’s safe to say that I will never do that,” she said, adding, “They’re so noisy and like ridiculous. Sometimes you get a good giggle, but I don’t know what the thing is with the capes, a grown man in tights. I feel like it must come from pantomime.”

Campion’s remarks come just a little over a year after Martin Scorsese created a firestorm of controversy with comments about the MCU when he told Empire magazine, “I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well-made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

Pedro Almodóvar however, tells me he wouldn’t mind offering his take on superheroes. “I would like to do something with Batgirl, but I would have to do it in my own way,” he said at the AFI Fest screening of his film “Parallel Mothers.”

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Inauguration Day poet Amanda Gorman isn’t ready to share details, but she reveals she’s writing a script. “I can’t tell you what it’s about because my agent will be so angry, but I’ve always been excited to explore multiple art forms,” she told me at the InStyle Awards. “I love poetry. I love novel writing. I love script writing. It’s just trying to get good at them as well. It takes practice.” Gorman also recalled the first time she received a text from Oprah Winfrey: “I was like, ‘Is this real? Is this her?’ But then she called me, and she was like, ‘Hi, Amanda.’ So I knew it was her.”

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Also at InStyle, I caught up with Melissa McCarthy, who became a viral hit the night before because she was seen tearing up in the audience of Adele’s CBS concert special after handing Champagne to the couple who got engaged during the show. A producer asked her before the show started if she’d handle the bubbly. McCarthy laughed, “I would have corrected that low-camera angle had I known.” Now the Oscar nominee is offering to marry the couple. “I just officiated my first wedding!” she said. “I’m a minister now. Do you need me? Call me!” P.S. McCarthy also welled up when she hit the InStyle carpet before being honored with the Icon Award. Click here for all of my exclusive details.

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Jason Reitman may have become a man during his bar mitzvah, but that doesn’t compare to directing “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” the new reboot of his father Ivan Reitman’s classic comedy franchise. “It was way better than my bar mitzvah,” Reitman says. “I was this 13-year-old nerdy dweeb who couldn’t dance. My voice [was] crackin’ as I was reading the story of Noah.” He also says he has ideas for more “Ghostbusters” movies. “Anyone who grew up watching ‘Ghostbusters’ has always thought of ‘Ghostbusters’ movies they want to see,” he said. “There’s something to ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ — it’s a bit of a fans’ film. This is literally the movie I was probably playing in my head as a kid. I want to see more. I want to see ‘Ghostbusters’ films from all of my favorite directors.”

Have some news or a tip to share? Email me at mmalkin@variety.com.