The Margot Robbie-led Suicide Squad (2016) has been in the news recently again due to fans campaigning for the release of the David Ayer cut of the film. Ever since its initial release way back in 2016, Ayer has publicly addressed how the theatrical version of the film was not his preferred vision for the film and how a lot of studio interference ended up messing with the theatrical cut. The film got a lot of flak and backlash despite being a box office success, owing to the messy and convoluted narrative of the film. Ayer was so severely burnt and affected by this experience that his reputation and capability as a bonafide filmmaker declined after his fallout with Warner Bros.
Suicide Squad Crippled David Ayer’s Reputation as a Capable Filmmaker
After making films that received critical and commercial success such as End of Watch (2012) and Fury (2014), David Ayer was allowed to direct Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. The film starred A-listers such as Margot Robbie, and Will Smith among others. Upon release, the film was panned by critics but emerged as a box office success, grossing $747 million.
Ayer has since called out Warner Bros for interfering with his vision for the film and putting out a version that was heavily edited and changed in terms of tone, characters, and narrative. In a chat with Jon Bernthal on his podcast show (via The Hollywood Reporter), he talked about how the studio interference affected the film and eventually his reputation saying,
“Hollywood — I tell people — is like watching someone you love get f**ked by someone you hate. The big one is ‘Suicide Squad.’ That shit broke me. That handed me my a**. Come right off ‘Fury,’ right? I had the town in my hand — could’ve done anything, and I did do anything “And [I] go on this journey with [‘Suicide Squad’]. And the same thing — authentic, truthful, let’s do all the rehearsal, let’s really get in each other’s souls. Let’s create this amazing, collaborative thing, right? And then ‘Deadpool’ opened, right? And they never tested ‘Batman v. Superman,’ so they were expecting a different result, and then they got hammered by all the critics. Then it’s like, ‘Okay, we’re going to turn David Ayer’s dark, soulful movie into a f**king comedy now.’”
Warner Bros saw Marvel’s formula of success and thus decided to change the entire direction and tone of their films so that they would appeal more to audiences. But that hasty plan soon backfired on them and the film would be considered one of the worst DC films ever made.
David Ayer Plans to Release His Original Cut of the Film
After the whole fiasco, David Ayer has since announced that his cut of the film exists and it is significantly better than the theatrical version. In the same interview, he said,
“All I know is my unseen film plays much better than the studio release. The interest in my cut being shown seems real and organic. And Gunn told me it would have its time to be shared. He absolutely deserves to launch his DC universe without more drama about old projects”
With James Gunn at the helm of things and promising Ayer regarding the release of his cut, fans can hope that the constant backlash and infamous nature of the project will be eradicated someday. One does hope that the much-hyped Ayer cut delivers on its promise once it finds its platform of release shortly.
James Gunn waved his magic hand and delivered a rebooted version of the brand in 2021 called The Suicide Squad. The film was received much better than the previous one and is among the best-rated DC films of all time standing at an impressive 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fans can enjoy Gunn’s version of The Suicide Squad on Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
