In spite of what many fans (and star Jared Leto) expected, Suicide Squad director David Ayer has confirmed, once and for all, that there is not now and never has been an R-rated cut of the supervillain team-up.
Speaking with Empire Magazine, Ayer addressed the misconception that he wanted to make an R-rated DC film before having the studio water down his vision.
“You could easily make this R-rated by having two F-bombs or someone smoke a cigarette. But that’s not what I think people mean when they ask for an R-rated version, so it was always meant to be a PG-13. It’s a decision you make before you turn the cameras on.”
This revelation may come as a shock to audience members who expected the director to make a more violent movie in his usual style, but it’s true that these things would have to be decided before the film ever really got into production.
In addition, the director discussed the different cuts of the film, explaining that the version that we see in theaters is the one that makes the most sense to him.
“There’s a linear version we did where it opens up with June in the cave and tells the story in sequence with the arrests and Batman, and then we go to Belle Reve. Honestly, there may be six or seven different versions of the film. In that version, [test] audiences were left with a lot of questions and a little disoriented as to who to watch and why. So we came up with what we call the ‘dossier’ version which has Amanda presenting the backstories and origins of the various members.”
No matter what you may think of Suicide Squad, you can rest assured that, at the very least, the film currently playing in theaters is the exact version that the director wanted out there (for better or worse).
Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters.
[Photo Credit: Warner Bros.]
