In November, 2023, it was reported that director Nia DaCosta walked off of her previous film, The Marvels (2023) during its post-production in order to move to London to begin pre-production on this Hedda Gabler biopic starring Marvel Cinematic Universe star Tessa Thompson. Marvel Studios, not fully informed, would be forced to finish the film without her, leading DaCosta to publicly state "I didn't direct my own movie" claiming the Disney owned company completely changed the film she shot due to her being unavailable for reshoots and postproduction. However, while doing press for the theatrical release of The Marvels (2023) DaCosta clarified that when she left the film's post production it was already 2 and a half years of working on the film and with the four release date shifts, she had no choice but begin preproduction on Hedda or it would have to be cancelled in its entirety. Instead, DaCosta said she and Disney found a way for her to work remotely for them which allowed her the freedom to make the move to London.
