The curious case of David Ayer‘s filmmaking career is one that fascinates and frustrates. Initially known for his hit screenplays (he wrote “Training Day,” and “The Fast and the Furious” among many others), the 49-year-old director quickly managed to make a mark as a director with the gritty “Harsh Times,” “End of Watch” and the highly underrated World War II movie “Fury.” Ever since then, his career has taken a turn for the worst with the critical drubbings of “Suicide Squad” and Netflix‘s “Bright,” the latter of which has been the butt of critics’ jokes for the past month, despite overwhelming audience approval. It’s not like his last two endeavors didn’t make money either, the $750 million worldwide box-office toll for “Suicide Squad” and the more than 11 million viewers that watched “Bright” in its first three days (which likely helped push the greenlight for a sequel) have made Ayer a filmmaker with massive commercial appeal.
READ MORE: Netflix Announces ‘Bright’ Sequel, Max Landis Not Involved
Chatting with ET about the consensus-filled negative reviews for “Suicide Squad,” the director didn’t hold back and revealed that he was definitely shaken by the reaction:
“It was shit,” said Ayer. “Yeah, it was shit reviews. I got my throat cut. It was a super polarizing movie. Incredibly polarizing. 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.”
As for “Bright,“ Ayer recently singled out IndieWire’s David Ehrlich, who said it was “the single worst movie of 2017.” The director responded by tweeting, “This is going on my fridge. Highest compliment is a strong reaction either way. This is a f–king epic review. It’s a big fun movie. You can sure string words together Mr. [Ehrlich]. I’d love to read any script you’ve written.”
Yikes. It’s quite understandable for a filmmaker to state that reviews for his or her film were unfair, but to specifically point the finger at a particular writer is quite unique and something that rarely happens. James Cameron did it to Kenneth Turan when the L.A. Times critic published a negative review of “Titanic” back in 1997, and then, most infamously, there was Vincent Gallo taking on Roger Ebert‘s over “The Brown Bunny” at Cannes. As for Ayer vs. Ehrlich, they eventually made up on Twitter, aww shucks. Even though Ayer won’t be returning for “Suicide Squad 2,” he will be back for the “Bright” followup. Take that, Ehrlich.