David Ayer recalls his first reaction when he watched the studio cut of his star-studded DC anti-hero movie, insisting his original version was 'dark' and 'soulful.'
- Aug 30, 2023
AceShowbiz - David Ayer has claimed "Suicide Squad" "broke" him when he saw the release cut. The 55-year-old filmmaker has recalled how the DC movie left him devastated as he compared it to the heartbreak of seeing "someone you love" sleep with "someone you hate."
"Hollywood, I tell people, is like watching someone you love get f***** by someone you hate. The big one is 'Suicide Squad'. That s*** broke me. That handed me my a**," Ayer said when appearing on the "Real Ones with Jon Bernthal" podcast.
Ayer revealed the set of circumstances that led to his "dark, soulful movie" becoming a comedy. He added, "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… 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****** comedy now.' "
Thankfully for Ayer, he recently revealed that new DC boss James Gunn has told him his original cut of "Suicide Squad" will be released one day. He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), "Have you ever had an experience in life that didn't until the way you wanted, that dragged you, that made you rethink everything?"
"I have. 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 it's time to be shared."
