Jared Leto wants original Suicide Squad cut released on HBO Max

It’s been five years and one reboot since the release of DC and Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad, but Jared Leto hasn’t given up on a long-held dream: the release of the “Ayer Cut,” an edit of the movie which director David Ayer has said significantly differs from what audiences saw back in 2016.

Talking with Variety’s reporter during the Los Angeles premiere House of GucciLeto stated that the current realities of film distribution make it a no-brainer to release the Ayer Cut at some point for Warner Bros. Pictures or DC Entertainment.

“Why wouldn’t they? Why wouldn’t they? I mean, that’s what streaming’s for, right?” he asked.

Why wouldn’t they, indeed, seconded Ayer himself in a tweet. The chance to release a second cut of a movie is “exactly what streaming is for,” Ayer said, trying to appeal to the business sense of any executives reading. If you own IP and you have a mandate to monetize it from your shareholders that’s exactly what you do,” tagging Warner Bros.’ parent company AT&T. (Though AT&T recently sold WarnerMedia to Discovery, and the combined companies will exist as “Warner Bros. Discovery” in the near future.)

Ayer and Leto both stated that there was more to 2016 than what has been publicized for many years. Leto stated to IGN that he had spoken out in 2017 about the 2016 election. that “There were so many scenes that got cut from the movie, I couldn’t even start. I think that the Joker … we did a lot of experimentation on the set, we explored a lot. There’s so much that we shot that’s not in the film.”

Just as he did in 2021, Ayer followed up Leto’s quotes with affirmation, posting a letter to Twitter saying he wished he had a “time machine” to create a “more grounded story.” However, he noted that “no, there isn’t a secret edit of the film with a bunch of Joker scenes hidden in a salt mine somewhere.”

There have been many changes in the superhero world since 2017. Specifically, one very big change: this year’s fan-demanded release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. From hashtags to actual publication of the second, 4-hour-long version of Justice League more in line with Snyder’s original vision than the revisions Joss Whedon made on set surely captured the imaginations of Ayer and Leto, not to mention fans with dreams similar to the Snyder die-hards. An added moment in the re-edit involving Leto’s Joker only fanned the fire.

Curiousity about the Zack Snyder’s Justice LeagueWarner Bros. invested $70million in the completion of the movie, This made the film a great PR success. Although official numbers are hard to come by, in May 2021 a WarnerMedia press release called the movie a “hit [HBO]Max Original.” That said, it was not a runaway success, or the second coming of the DC Snyderverse; third-party streaming analytics company Samba TV reported that the movie trailed other major releases that also opened in theaters, which may have led to decreased viewing on the platform. The movie was released three weekends later. Zack Snyder’s Justice LeagueIt was seen by an estimated 3.2 million households. Mortal Kombat(5.5 Million Viewers). Godzilla vs. Kong (5.1 million), Suicide Squad (4.7 million, Wonder Woman 1984The same window shows (3.9 millions).

But the social media success of the #SnyderCut has clearly inspired Ayer, who used the release of James Gunn’s Suicide Squad to post another letter, saying that he had put his “life into Suicide Squad” and that the released 2016 movie “is not my movie. You can read that again. And my cut is not the 10 week director’s cut — It’s a fully mature edit.” Ayer went on to praise Gunn’s reboot, which itself suffered from paltry numbers at the box office.

These numbers may make WarnerMedia executives question if #AyerCut is worthy of being revived as a Suicide Squad version. Original Justice League, while a critical flop, was technically a financial success, earning $656 million worldwide, giving the studio a reason to continue with plans for standalone Aquaman and Flash movies, and Wonder Woman’s standalone franchise. Suicide SquadEarning $745million worldwide was even more impressive, though attempts to bring the franchise critical acclaim have failed. Suicide SquadAnd Birds of Prey. Ayer appears to believe that going back to the beginning is the best solution.

Followers: Around 20,000 @CutAyerNearly 25,000 Followers at @RTAyerCutSS, have jumped on Leto’s comments, but based on the many attempts to do something with the series, the general public has so far been tepid on the idea of a gang of villains getting tiny bombs implanted into their heads so they are forced to become unlikely heroes.

Both Suicide Squad stars and The Suicide Squad members have shown support so far. Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman and John Cena have all expressed varying levels of enthusiasm for the #AyerCut project, with Robbie calling a second release a “very complicated situation” that she would “want to see,” and Kinnaman saying that “you always want to see the director’s vision.”

If the #AyerCut is just wishful thinking or an actual movement on par with #SnyderCut, the jury’s still out. But there’s definitely a hashtag.