Tragic news came our way today as it was revealed that Justice League is no longer in the hands of Zack and Deborah Snyder. The director and producer have stepped down from their respective positions to recover from their recent family tragedy.
According to THR, Zack and Deborah Snyder were faced with an ill-fated tragedy in March when their daughter, Autumn Snyder committed suicide. Initially, the Snyder’s decided to keep the news private and mourned their loss with a small circle of people who were aware of the incident.
The Snyder’s also went on with their work on Justice League after a mere two-week break. However, they have now decided to extend their break to be with their kids as a family.
“In my mind, I thought it was a cathartic thing to go back to work, to just bury myself and see if that was the way through it,” said Snyder to the THR reporter, with Deborah seated beside him. “The demands of this job are pretty intense. It is all-consuming. And in the last two months, I’ve come to the realization … I’ve decided to take a step back from the movie to be with my family, be with my kids, who really need me. They are all having a hard time. I’m having a hard time.”
The studio is in full support of the Snyder’s decision and seems to be helping them in every possible way to ease their tension at this tragic time. What they are going through is unimaginable, and my heart — our hearts — go out to them,” said Toby Emmerich, President at Warner Bros. Pictures.
Warner Bros. initially suggested pushing back the release date for Justice League. However, Zack Snyder wasn’t interested in delaying the project and didn’t approve of it. Furthermore, Snyder had also decided to film additional scenes for the movie after watching a rough cut.
Zack had Joss Whedon’s (to helm Batgirl as well) help who wrote the new scenes for the film. When the director was on his way to London to film the new sequences, he realized that he couldn’t work effectively on the project.
“The directing is minimal and it has to adhere to the style and tone and the template that Zack set,” said Emmerich. “We’re not introducing any new characters. It’s the same characters in some new scenes. He’s handing a baton to Joss but the course has really been set by Zack. I still believe that despite this tragedy, we’ll still end up with a great movie.”
Joss Whedon will carry with the filming of Justice League and the DC film is still set to release on November 17th. Pursue News sends its condolences to the Snyder’s and hope to see them recover soon.
