Zack Snyder Is Stepping Away From “Justice League” To Deal With A Sad Family Situation
Zack Snyder was in charge of directing and co-writing Justice League, the upcoming all-the-superheroes follow-up to the not-so-great Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Principal photography has finished filming on Justice League, and it’s currently in post-production. However, Zack Snyder isn’t able to finish it and he told The Hollywood Reporter that he and his wife Deborah Snyder, who is a producer on the film, are leaving it to deal with the death of their daughter.
Zack and Deborah’s daughter Autumn Snyder died by suicide at the age of 20 in March and he said they “never planned to make this public.“). Autumn was Zack’s daughter from his first marriage and one of his eight children. Zack took a two-week break after his daughter’s death and went back to work, but he realized he needed more time.
“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. 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.
I know the fans are going to be worried about the movie, but there are seven other kids that need me. In the end, it’s just a movie. It’s a great movie. But it’s just a movie.”
There was talk of pushing back the release date of Justice League from November 17th, but Zack wanted it released on time. Before the death of his daughter, Zack had hired fellow nerd god Joss Whedon to write a couple additional scenes for Justice League. They were planning on shooting said scenes in England, but Zack decided now is not a great time to leave home, and so Joss has taken over as director.
I’m sure those extra Justice League scenes will be fine. Someone will just need to remind Joss Whedon not to get too Joss Whedon-y on them. Watching Ben Affleck’s Batman break out into song while Jason Momoa’s Aquaman swims Esther Williams-style in a fountain might feel just a little out of place with the rest of the film.
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