Suicide Squad Reportedly Had Very Troubled Production

While many early reviews have not been kind to the film, Suicide Squad is still set to have a huge opening at the box office. The quality of the movie should perhaps not come as a surprise in light of a new report that suggests its production was less than smooth.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the problems happened right out of the gate, with a source indicating that director and writer David Ayer had little time to write the movie. "[Ayer] wrote the script in like, six weeks, and they just went," they said.

It's also noted that, as is often the case with directors of these large, special effects-driven movies, Ayer didn't have an extensive history with this sort of production.

"There are a lot of people who don't want to direct those movies and that's a huge problem," said a producer who has worked on these types of franchises. "A lot of the proven guys are back-to-back with their stuff, or they want to develop it for five years, and there's a machine that has to be fed. And there's the economics."

Warner Bros. boss Kevin Tsujihara was said to have been "really pissed about damage to the brand" after the response to Batman v Superman. There were internal concerns Suicide Squad's tone didn't match that of the first teaser trailer, which led to the studio working on an alternative cut of the film, separate from the one Ayer had envisioned. Multiple editors worked on it over time, different cuts were shown to test audiences, and it was decided to find a middle ground between the two.

It's noted this "required millions of dollars worth of additional photography," perhaps referencing the reshoots we heard about earlier this year. At the time, it was reported this was in order to make the movie funnier, something one of the movie's actors and Ayer himself denied. The Hollywood Reporter describes the studio's preferred cut as being "lighter" than Ayer's "somber version."

As noted above, Suicide Squad is projected to make as much as $140 million in its opening weekend. Even if that happens, it doesn't guarantee success, however--Batman v Superman also had a solid opening and then quickly fell off, perhaps as word spread that it simply wasn't all that good. That scenario may not repeat itself here, but even with a big opening, it will still have a long way to go before earning back its money. "The movie's got to do $750 million, $800 million to break even. If they get anywhere close to that, they'll consider it a win," a source said.

Suicide Squad lands in theaters this Friday, August 5. You can read more about it in GameSpot's review and review roundup.