Suicide Squad director David Ayer responded to a critic of the 2016 superhero film who suggested he abandon the idea of "the Ayer cut."
Ayer posted his response to Tim Grierson, a film critic for Screen International magazine, who suggested Ayer abandon a director's cut of Suicide Squad following his positive review of director James Gunn's standalone sequel The Suicide Squad. Ayer's lengthy response on Twitter began with tragic stories from his early life, including his father's suicide, foster care, probation, drug addiction and his time serving in the Navy. He talked about how those experiences not only shaped his perseverance but also inspired the events of his first major screenplay Training Day. "Of course no one believed it at the time," Ayer said about pitching Training Day to studios. "The nice Hollywood folks refused to believe cops could be that corrupt."
Ayer then went on to address the studio cut of Suicide Squad and how it contrasted with his original script. "I put my life into Suicide Squad," Ayer said. "I made something amazing - My cut is [an] intricate and emotional journey with some 'bad people' who are shit on and discarded (a theme that resonates in my soul). The studio cut is not my movie. Read that again."
Ayer went on to explain what his cut would have looked like, remarking that very few people have actually seen it. "[My] cut is not the 10 week director's cut," he said. "It's a fully mature edit by Lee Smith standing on the [incredible] work by John Gilroy. It's all Steven Price's brilliant score, with not a single radio song in the whole thing. It has traditional character arcs, amazing performances, a solid 3rd act resolution. A handful of people have seen it. If someone says they have seen it, they haven't." He ended his statement wishing Gunn and the cast and crew of The Suicide Squad well and saying, "I will no longer speak publicly on this matter."
Reports of Warner Bros.' meddling in Ayer's final cut of Suicide Squad prompted a trend of #ReleasetheAyerCut following the success of Zack Snyder's Justice League. One of Suicide Squad's editors, Kevin Hickman, recently shared how Ayer's initial vision for the film differed from the final product, comparing it to director Ridley Scott's war drama Black Hawk Down. "It was just very militarized, very serious," Hickman said. "I mean, of course, there were supposed to be comedic moments with Will Smith, but it was a darker film." While Ayer has previously endorsed a director's cut release of Suicide Squad, WarnerMedia CEO Ann Sarnoff vetoed the idea, saying, "We won't be developing David Ayer's cut."
Written and directed by James Gunn, The Suicide Squad will arrive in both theaters and on HBO Max Aug. 6.
Source: Twitter