Suicide Squad director David Ayer hopped on Twitter this week to air his grievances with critics and the studio that released the 2016 film. In the three-page letter, Ayer distances himself from the theatrical cut of Suicide Squad yet again and wishes and wishes director James Gunn well.
“I don’t know what quit is. I am not who you think I am,” Ayer says in the letter. The director describes his difficult upbringing and youth before joining the Navy and working odd jobs prior to becoming a screenwriter.
“I put my life into Suicide Squad,” Ayer wrote of the 2016 film. “I made something amazing–my cut is [an] intricate and emotional journey with some “bad people” who are s*** on and discarded (a theme that resonates in my soul). The studio cut is not my movie. Read that again.”
Ayer’s Suicide Squad was notoriously tinkered with by Warner Bros. In a tweet last year, the director attributed the interference to executives shocked by negative reviews of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the success of Deadpool, and said in another that “it’s exhausting getting your ass kicked for a film that got the Edward Scissorhands treatment.” Alongside the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League earlier this year, fan interest in the original cut of Ayers’ movie has spiked, and Ayer said this spring that he still wants his cut to see the light of day, but Warner Bros. brass says it’s not happening.
“And my cut is not the 10 week director’s cut,” Ayer continued. “It’s a fully mature edit by Lee Smith standing on the incredibly [sic] 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.”
Ayer doesn’t directly address Warner Bros. in relation to the Suicide Squad movie he directed, though, stating that “I’ve never told my side of the story and I never will. Why? Same reason no one will know what happened on my submarine. I keep my covenents [sic]. I’m old school like that. So I kept my mouth shut and took the tsunami of sometimes shockingly personal criticism. Why? That’s what I’ve done my whole life. Real talk I’d rather get shot at.”
Ayer is more bullish on the upcoming not-a-sequel from James Gunn, which is set to release next week.
“I’m so proud of James and excited for the success that’s coming,” Ayer wrote. “I support WB and am thrilled the franchise is getting the legs it needs. I’m rooting for everyone, the cast, the crew. Every movie is a miracle. And Jame’s [sic] brilliant work will be the miracles of miracles. I appreciate your patience.”
“I will no longer speak publicly on this matter,” Ayer said, seemingly in an attempt to put further talk of an “Ayer cut” of Suicide Squad to bed.
The Suicide Squad, directed by James Gunn, releases on Friday, August 6 to both theaters and HBO Max. Ahead of the release, you can check out our review and see what other critics are saying, and learn why The Suicide Squad isn’t the movie you might think it is, straight from James Gunn himself.
