As you’ve no doubt heard, Suicide Squad is receiving a mauling from critics (you can read our review by clicking here). While there’s every chance fans and moviegoers alike will embrace the movie and ensure that it’s a hit, it really does appear as if Warner Bros. has another Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on their hands with Task Force X’s big screen debut.
However, an expose published by The Hollywood Reporter points to that being entirely the studio’s fault. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the many troubles Suicide Squad faced.
- Director David Ayer only had six weeks to write the script because pushing the August 5th, 2016 release date – announced in October 2014 – wasn’t an option.
- Warner Bros. executives were rattled by the response to Batman v Superman and started getting even more worried when it became apparent that Suicide Squad didn’t deliver on the fun tone promised in the early trailers. As a result, they started working on a new cut.
- Multiple editors worked on the movie.
- Two versions ended up being shown to test audiences; Ayer’s more sombre version and a lighter one from the studio; eventually a compromise was reached, but that resulted in millions of dollars worth of reshoots to reshape the movie.
- Sources say that, “Ayer was exhausted and needed time to process conflicting ideas.”
- Suicide Squad may very well need to ear $750 million, $800 million to break even.
So, as you can tell, things really haven’t been going well for Suicide Squad from the very start. Ayer has defended the movie on social media following that first wave of negative reviews, but it’s going to be a very interesting weekend now, especially as it’s expected to break box office records when it opens. Even so, don’t bank on Suicide Squad 2 just yet…
