William N. Law Blog: Director David Ayer Chimes in on Those ‘Suicide Squad’ Reshoots

Monday, April 11, 2016

Director David Ayer Chimes in on Those ‘Suicide Squad’ Reshoots

Here are the facts. First, Suicide Squad recently underwent a series of reshoots that were reportedly extensive and expensive. Second, reshoots aren’t inherently a bad thing, as they allow filmmakers to make good movies great and pick up shots and moments that they didn’t realize they needed until they were in the editing room. The number of decent movies that go back for reshoots to tighten something up vastly outnumber the movies that go back for reshoots because they’re dumpster fires.

But the Suicide Squad reshoots have been very interesting because of the various whys circulating for their existence. Now, director David Ayer has chimed in, making this already dark waters a little murkier.

In the initial report about reshoots, the reason for the film was laid out as follows:

…I understand that the reshoots are happening right now, as recently as this week, and that they’re big – tens of millions of dollars big. And they’re adding more humor and lightness into the film.

And while it was later confirmed that reshoots were happening, the back half of that statement has led to its fair share of controversy. After all, it makes a certain amount of sense. The very dark and very grim Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has made a lot of money, but it’s not being embraced by audiences. The Boss just dethroned Zack Snyder’s superhero throw down at the box office. That’s not a good sign. It’s easy to believe that Warner Bros. would follow this route.

It is easy to believe. But is it the truth? According to David Ayer, the rumor is total rubbish. He took to Twitter, where he implied that the reshoots were scheduled to add more action (like Jai Courtney recently said in Superhero Bits) to the film and that everything is sunny and everyone is getting along:

#SuicideSquad “reshoots for humor” is silly. When a studio loves your movie and asks what else you want, go for it! #ThanksWB #moreaction

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) April 11, 2016

But as a conspiracy theorist would posit, “That’s exactly what they want us to think!” After all, this wouldn’t be the first time a director would have lied through his teeth to keep a movie’s public image looking nice and shiny. It gets even trickier when you realize that everyone involved in this movie wants to keep their job and keep working for the foreseeable future, so it there was a problem or a behind-the-scenes conflict, we won’t know about it until the people involved give up hope and share their story for a tell-all. The Easy Riders Raging Bulls of the superhero movie age is going to be fascinating.

So who do you believe: the online reports who could be completely misinformed or the filmmaker who has it in his best interest to make things look like they’re going swell? That’s up to you for now.

So there you have it. Suicide Squad went through reshoots. Some people say it was to change the tone. Others say is was because they were adding more action. We may know more when the movie opens on August 5, 2016. In either cast, I’m still excited to see the movie. Why else would I write a couple thousand words on its new trailer?

The post Director David Ayer Chimes in on Those ‘Suicide Squad’ Reshoots appeared first on /Film.