David Ayer explains in greater detail about his feelings on the Suicide Squad experience and what Gunn had told him.

Piggy-backing onto a short exchange happening yesterday on Twitter, where Suicide Squad writer and director, David Ayer, debunked a reported rumor that his proposed Ayer Cut of the 2016 film was being planned for release by James Gunn before the start of his new DCU next year that will be jump-started by his Superman: Legacy film. A Twitter account with the name “The Ayer Cut” reached out to Gunn citing several articles that were reporting on that rumor and Ayer was quicker to respond with the reply, “Silly rumor. Not true.” And followed by a facepalm emoji. Now, David Ayer is expounding on what he and Gunn have discussed about what the future can hold for the Ayer Cut, according to Deadline.

Ayer would post on his social media to address his followers and the DC fandom after as the legion campaigning for the release of the Ayer Cut were in need of a status update and clarification. The Nerd Rage Podcast responded to a seemingly new Jared Leto Joker picture with the tweet, “Not to call out David by saying this, but you do know this was released back in 2016, right?” with a slightly lower quality version of the picture. Ayer would respond, “What’s your advice on how to navigate this situation with grace? There’s a genuine curiosity and interest from a lot of people. And I’m aware of there is another group of people that have fun mocking the film. Your comment is a perfect example of how many are magnetically drawn discussion to the 2016 film in a negative way. Have you ever had an experience in life that didn’t until the way you wanted, that dragged you, that made you rethink everything? I have.”

Ayer adds, “All I know is my unseen film plays much better than the studio release. The interest in my cut being show[n] seems real and organic. And Gunn told me it would have it’s [sic] time to be shared. He absolutely deserves to launch his DC universe without more drama about old projects. In a way I’m chained to this thing. I’m riding a tiger here and navigating this situation the best I can. Life is a very strange journey.”

Deadline reminds readers that back in 2020, Ayer would bluntly say that his film was “ripped to pieces” when responding to a tweet that said over 40 minutes where cut out.

The giant in the sci-fi genre was not able to follow up on both additions to his two cinematic classics, but he felt he chose poorly.

Ridley Scott is responsible for many film classics that will be recognized in the zeitgeist for years to come. Two of his most celebrated works come from the sci-fi genre, with the films Alien from 1979 and Blade Runner from 1982. Although, of the two, Alien was the one that became an instant classic, while Blade Runner was initially a flop that had acquired its following over time and it is now recognized as one of the greatest films in science fiction with its profound themes, stellar effects that still hold up, and a fully realized noir-ish world.

As franchises and the re-visiting of intellectual properties dominate the modern film world, both of Scott’s signature works have been given sequels/prequels in recent years. Alien: Covenant would be Scott’s follow-up to the Alien prequel, Prometheus, and Blade Runner 2049 would be the direct sequel to Scott’s cult hit that starred Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer, which both released in 2017. According to Variety, Scott recently told Empire that he now regrets selecting Alien: Covenant as the project he directed instead of Blade Runner 2049, which was helmed by Dune and Dune Part 2 director Denis Villeneuve.

Scott states in the interview, “I shouldn’t have had to make that decision. But I had to. I should have done Blade Runner 2.” Although Villeneuve was in the director’s chair, Scott would still be involved as an executive producer on the movie. Additionally, he will also be involved with Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming limited series Blade Runner 2099, which he revealed was being developed back in 2021. “I’m one of the producers. It’s all set years on. To me, it circles the idea of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.”

Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon Studios, says of the series, “The original Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, is considered one of the greatest and most influential science-fiction movies of all time, and we’re excited to introduce Blade Runner 2099 to our global Prime Video customers. We are honored to be able to present this continuation of the Blade Runner franchise, and are confident that by teaming up with Ridley, Alcon Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, and the remarkably talented Silka Luisa, Blade Runner 2099 will uphold the intellect, themes, and spirit of its film predecessors.”

Barbie and Oppenheimer combined for the largest second week pre-sales in box office history while Disney’s Haunted Mansion looks at an under-whelming $25 million debut.

After posting an historic first week at the box office where Barbie became the highest domestic opening ever for a non super hero film or sequel in addition to posting the best Monday and Tuesday totals in Warner Bros history, it would seem momentum has not died down as the Greta Gerwig directed film is set to post a second weekend in the $90-$94 million range (per deadline). This is where I may toot my own horn just a little. On Thursday, when we post our predictions for the weekend, tracking had Barbie’s second weekend between $70-$80 million, that number just seemed too low to me considering those weekday numbers. 

So now we are seeing early estimates for the weekend at that $90-$94 million range, and I’ll be honest, I think it is possible we see Barbie get to $100 million in its second weekend. That is how massive this movie has become. By the end of the weekend the film is expected to be right around the $700 million mark at the worldwide box office, which I don’t think anyone thought was going to happen when a big screen adaptation of Barbie was announced!

Barbie and Oppenheimer are combining for the largest second week pre-sales in history which is putting Christopher Nolan’s tale of the creation of the worlds first atomic bomb at around $46 million for its sophomore frame, which is an incredible hold for a 3-hour film that doesn’t feature anyone in spandex. I think audiences are taking advantage of seeing this movie in Imax, whether that is traveling hours to see it in one of the 19 domestic theaters playing it in 70mm Imax or just heading out to your local cinema that has its own Imax theater (which some have dubbed LieMax, although it is still a nice large screen) people realize that seeing a film in a premium format can be fleeting. Just look at Barbie, the film is going to be one of, if not the biggest release of the year, and it lost a lot of its premium screens this week to Haunted Mansion.

So, about Haunted Mansion… it would seem that it isn’t holding those premium screens the way Disney may have hoped as at my local theater I have already begun seeing them slowly putting Barbie back in those screens as Haunted Mansion appears to be a bust. With a budget around $150 million, the adaptation of the popular Disney Theme Park ride (and remake of the 2003 Eddie Murphy film) is looking to open around $25 million. To put that into perspective, that Eddie Murphy film, that cost $90 million and was dubbed a bomb back in 2003, opened to $24.2 million, and that is when the average ticket price was $6.03 (compared to 2023’s $10.53). Perhaps releasing this film in July and not October was a big mistake, but knowing Disney, the theatrical release was all just used as marketing for the film to play on Disney+ in October. You can check out Chris Bumbray’s 5/10 review here.

The big miss for me this week in terms of my predictions was the new A24 horror film Talk To Me. I had only seen limited marketing and expected the film to come in around $3-$4 million for the entire weekend. Well, the film actually managed $4 million in just its opening day and is expected to hit around $10 million for the weekend. That is solid for a film with a reported budget of under $5 million.

Is seeing a delightful feature film in your plans for the remainder of the weekend? If so, let us know what you plan on seeing in the comments and don’t forget to check back tomorrow when we have a full run down on this weekend’s box office numbers.