Yahoo News 'Suicide Squad' director David Ayer says Jared Leto was 'mistreated' by cuts
Suicide Squad director David Ayer has continued his support for fans campaigning to see his original cut of the movie released, claiming studio scissor work “mistreated” Jared Leto and his take on The Joker.
Ever since Warner Bros announced that Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League would be completed for HBO Max, fans have turned their attention to Ayer’s Suicide Squad.
Read more: James Gunn wants to see the Ayer Cut
Leto’s performance was one of the most divisive aspects of the critically maligned 2016 superhero movie, delivering a vastly different take on the iconic villain.
In response to a tweet about the ongoing #ReleaseTheAyerCut campaign, Ayer said that Leto’s performance had been “ripped out of the movie” in the edit.
Jared was pretty mistreated during this. No one has seen his performance. It was ripped out of the movie. https://t.co/gSOeyJjtyd
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) June 2, 2020
Ayer said last month that most of the “magnificent work” Leto did in the Joker role “remains unseen” as a result of studio-mandated cuts to Suicide Squad.
He later stated that the movie as he made it had been given the “Edward Scissorhands treatment” by studio brass.
The 52-year-old added: “My cut would be easy to complete. It would be incredibly cathartic for me.”
Read more: Ayer says Suicide Squad strayed from his vision
Numerous fan campaigns have sprung up in the wake of the success of the “Snyder Cut” movement, with many online calling for Josh Trank’s true version of Fantastic Four and even a four-hour cut of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
Suicide Squad proved to be a box office hit, scooping $747m (£589m) worldwide, but floundered with critics and sits at a 27% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The world of Suicide Squad is set to return to the big screen next year with James Gunn’s partial reboot of the series, which brings back some of the characters while introducing many more.
Gunn’s movie had wrapped filming prior to the coronavirus lockdown and it’s still on course to meet its planned release date.
The Suicide Squad is due to be released in August 2021.
