Two years ago, Suicide Squad was raked over the coals – you know it, I know it, and David Ayer knows it, too.
Despite credits on End of Watch and Fury, not to mention the film’s ensemble of A-listers (see: Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Will Smith), Task Force X’s first cinematic voyage was sunk by scathing reviews – reviews that left Ayer feeling as though he had his throat cut for his “extremely polarizing” effort.
His follow-up, Bright, hasn’t exactly fared well with critics, either (our review), but in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly (via CBM), the filmmaker conceded that he was initially wary of helming the Netflix original so soon after Suicide Squad‘s failure.
It’s like going to the boxing ring and getting knocked out is how it felt. And I had to go into the ring again. And directing is a confidence game, because you’re selling everyone on something that only exists in your head. The actors have to feel that confidence to trust that you know what you’re doing, and so does your crew. As a director, you set the tone. Really, it’s coming off that movie, I understood the pitfalls, I understood the dangers, I knew where the alligators hide, you know? And so I made damn sure I didn’t repeat any mistakes.
It’s a refreshingly honest take from David Ayer, who has since been placed in control of a Bright sequel at Netflix. One creative force who won’t be returning for round two is Max Landis (An American Werewolf in London), whose spec script originally made the headlines after it was sold to Netflix for a whopping $4 million.
The online giant has reportedly enjoyed a good return on investment, too, after Bright became the “highest-viewed Netflix film ever on the service in its first week of release.” So there’s that.
Task Force X, on the other hand, have relocated to director Gavin O’Connor, who is seemingly poised to fire up production on Suicide Squad 2 sometime this year – October 2018 is said to be the current target, so keep your peepers peeled.