Though 2016’s Suicide Squad made money and won a few fans around the globe after critics had their way with it, many involved with the piece later spoke out against it. First there was Jared Leto and now, director David Ayer has confirmed what we all had assumed for a very long time about the movie: His cut of the film was very different from what the public saw in theaters.
The Bright helmer recently said on Twitter that the version we got to witness was “vastly different from [its] original assembly” and Harley Quinn’s story arc was “vastly simplified.” In addition, Ayer also appeared to speak critically of today’s entertainment industry, noting “[most directors] are treated as figureheads and actually have very little say over the final product. We just don’t talk about it.”
If you keep up with the news, you’ll know this silence is not without good reason. For instance, shortly after Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot hit theaters, the young director took to Twitter to claim a better version of the film was made by him before it was butchered by Fox in the editing room.
In response to this incident and numerous reports of bad on-set behavior, the man wound up in a “director’s jail” and couldn’t get work while being booted from various high profile projects. Thankfully, things seem to have changed for him now with the Tom Hardy-led Al Capone biopic Fonzo going into production for a 2019 release, but studios are still uncompromising with their products that are peddled to consumers.
After all, we know that Joss Whedon was forced to insert the cave scene into Avengers: Age of Ultron in order to keep quieter character moments and we’ve all heard of the Alan Smithee credit for those who didn’t want to be associated with a project. It’s a vicious circle where you have to go along to get along or you won’t ever work on anything of substance for a while.
But we digress. In regards to Suicide Squad, tell us, is Ayer right to criticize the film and today’s entertainment industry? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.