Jon Bernthal recently welcomed his Fury director, David Ayer, onto his Real Ones podcast for a wide-ranging interview, including the lingering controversy over his 2016 superhero movie Suicide Squad.
Ayer called it his “biggest heartbreak” in Hollywood. “That s*** broke me,” he added.
The movie starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie was a box-office hit, but fell flat with fans. In the years since, Ayer has been vocal about how his version differed from the one Warner Bros. released to theaters.
“Come right off Fury, right? I had the town in my hand — could’ve done anything, and I did do anything,” Ayer said.
“And [I] go on this journey with [Suicide Squad] … 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?” Ayer said.
“And then Deadpool opened, right? 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, ‘OK we’re going to turn David Ayer’s dark, soulful movie into a f****** comedy now.'”
Incidentally, Ayer said earlier this month on social media that James Gunn — who directed the sequel The Suicide Squad and who now heads DC Films — insisted a so-called Ayer cut of Suicide Squad “would have its time to be shared.”
“All I know is my unseen film plays much better than the studio release,” Ayer wrote, explaining there is “real and organic” interest from fans wanting to see it.
He added Gunn “absolutely deserves to launch his DC universe without more drama about old projects,” though he feels “chained” to the film. “I’m riding a tiger here and navigating this situation the best I can,” he expressed.
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