It didn’t even take a full day for the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut fandom to turn its focus on David Ayer and “Suicide Squad,” as #ReleaseTheAyerCut has become a trending topic on Twitter. With the success of its two-plus year campaign, the folks that were able to convince Warner Bros. to release a new version of “Justice League” are now fighting to get a new cut of “Suicide Squad” to hit HBO Max in a similar fashion. And much like the Snyder Cut discussion, the filmmaker at the center of it, David Ayer, is leading the charge.
When “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” was first announced, Ayer was quick to hit Twitter and add his interest in taking a look back at his “Suicide Squad” and crafting a new version of the film that better fits his original vision. But at the time, he was just expressing interest, and he wasn’t actually talking about why he would want to do it or how much work would be involved. Ayer recently went on Twitter to better explain what it would take to craft his version of “Suicide Squad,” and according to the director, it would take nearly the manpower or money to make it happen. And it would be an experience that he would be grateful to have.
“My cut would be easy to complete,” said Ayer. “It would be incredibly cathartic for me. It’s exhausting getting your ass kicked for a film that got the Edward Scissorhands treatment. The film I made has never been seen.”
READ MORE: ‘Six Years’: David Ayer To Write & Direct The Film Adaptation Of Harlan Coben’s Thriller
The situation that surrounded the post-production of “Suicide Squad” greatly differs from that of “Justice League.” On the latter project, Snyder left to take care of some tragic family business, with WB hiring Joss Whedon to come in and basically direct an entirely new film in reshoots and drastically change Snyder’s original vision. On “Suicide Squad,” Ayer was only given a reported six weeks to write the script and get into production, and while he was allowed to film his entire vision, the studio apparently took the editing out of his hands and allowed a trailer company to craft the finished product. And according to the filmmaker and those who know the behind-the-scenes story, the end result is a movie that was edited in a way that removed quite a bit of story and character development, in favor of a fast-paced, MTV-esque film.
READ MORE: HBO Max Boss Hints “Wildly Expensive” Snyder Cut Will Cost A Lot More Than $30 Million
Now, another big difference is the fact that James Gunn has already filmed a “Suicide Squad” sequel/reboot. It’s unclear how much of his film depends on the groundwork laid out in Ayer’s film. So, WB might not want to release a new version of Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” to only then release Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” a brief time later. But as Ayer shared on Twitter, Gunn has already voiced his support for whatever decision WB makes regarding the franchise.
So, really, all that’s left is for WB to figure out if this is something the studio is interested in doing or not. Only time will tell.