David Ayer helmed ‘Suicide Squad’ for Warner Brothers, based on the DC Comics characters, and plans were in place for him to continue with the franchise, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. While attending the Television Critics Association panel for his new cop series ‘Deputy’, Ayer was asked about some of his other previously discussed projects and whether or not they were still in the pipeline. (Via /Film)
Having directed ‘Suicide Squad’, he had the chance to helm the sequel, but he reveals that he wanted to do something else instead. Rather than produce a sequel, Warner Brothers is instead entrusting James Gunn to reboot the concept in ‘The Suicide Squad’. As Ayer stated:
“I had a chance to do it, but I went another way… I love the world creation of it and I love the power of the IP and the fans. It’s dangerous. It’s like juggling chainsaws, but I am drawn to it and it’s definitely an arena I’ll play in again.”
At one point, Ayer planned to reteam with his ‘Suicide Squad’ star Margot Robbie in another film that would have featured her character Harley Quinn, ‘Gotham City Sirens’. Reportedly, that film would have teamed her up with Catwoman and Poison Ivy. Instead, Robbie will next appear as Harley in ‘Birds of Prey’, out next month, which features her teaming up with superheroes (or antiheroes) like Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and cop Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez).
But at one time, it seemed as though both these projects were in the works at the same time. But it’s possible that some of the plans for ‘Gotham City Sirens’ wound up in ‘Birds of Prey’. When asked about his project, Ayer replied:
“No, I think it’s on pause.”
Post-‘Suicide Squad’, Ayer’s next big project was his first film for Netflix, the fantasy cop flick ‘Bright’, which starred Will Smith, who appeared as Deadshot in ‘Suicide Squad’. There was immediate buzz that a sequel was coming, but there hasn’t been any chatter in a while. Ayer said:
“Still in development. We’re working on it so, hopefully, we’ll be able to mount that up soon. It’s a great opportunity for all of us to explore the world more. I think people felt like there was a lot of doorways to explore. People were like, ‘Tell us about the dragon. Tell us about this, the history.’ So it’s a very rich world and I think we’re going to drill down some more.”
At this point, Ayer things that his next film will be a remake of the 1967 action ensemble ‘The Dirty Dozen’. Were you a fan of ‘Bright’? Would you like to see a sequel? Would you also like to see Ayer take on a future DC Comics movie?
