While some of Zack Snyder’s films have been well-received by critics and audiences, he also has some underwhelming works in his filmography, such as Sucker Punch. In the film, Emily Browning portrayed ‘Babydoll’, a young woman admitted to a mental hospital. She went into many fantasy worlds where she and her fellow inmates were strong, experienced warriors, gathering the things they needed to escape.
In her dreams, Babydoll and her friends fought a variety of enemies in order to obtain items that would help them escape, with these encounters simulating their actual escape attempts. Well, this 2011 film was ahead of its time, as fans called it, but failed to perform well at the box office.
Sucker Punch mainly received negative reviews and underperformed horribly at the box office, earning $89.8 million against a $82 million budget. What did Zack Snyder and the film’s cast say about Sucker Punch’s bombing at the box office?
Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch Was ‘So Badly Misunderstood’?
Some movies are simply ahead of their time in the cinematic world, making an imprint on film history despite initial box office failure. Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch is one such infamous work. This film, which combined fantasy, and action was hailed as a visual feast and as being ahead of its time by fans. Despite this, the Emily Browning starrer struggled at the box office, making only a $7,000,000 profit.
And according to Snyder, he was “shocked” by the response Sucker Punch received. He discussed how his 2011 action/fantasy movie is one of his more misunderstood creations in an interview with ComicBookDebate:
“I’m always shocked that [‘Sucker Punch’] was so badly misunderstood. I always said that it was a commentary on s*xism and geek culture. Someone would ask me, ‘Why did you film the girls this way?’ And I’d say, ‘Well you did!’”
The 57-year-old director further added:
“‘Sucker Punch’ is a f**k you to a lot of people who will watch it.”
Director’s Cut of Sucker Punch Is Still in Zack Snyder’s Plans
Zack Snyder discussed his plans to eventually release the director’s cut of his 2011 action-fantasy movie Sucker Punch during an interview with Letterboxd:
“I’ve never gotten around to doing the director’s cut. I still plan to at some point. But in the original ending, when Babydoll is in the chair in the basement with Blue – she’s already been lobotomized – when the cop shines the light on her, the set breaks apart, and she stands up, and she sings a song on stage.”
He went on to add:
“It’s weirdly not optimistic and optimistic at the same time. That’s kind of what the tone was at the end. We tested it, and the studio thought it was too weird, so we changed it.”
Despite the fact that the film has been out of theaters for more than ten years, Snyder expressed hope that viewers will
“Get to see it at some point.”
Emily Browning and the rest of the cast (including Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, and Vanessa Hudgens) underwent a physically demanding preparation regimen for their roles.
Browning told IndieWire:
“Me and Abbie and Jena met in Los Angeles and trained together for a month, with the stunt guys doing mixed martial arts and with Logan and David, the Navy Seals doing strength training, and then we went up to Vancouver for a month and all trained together and then the last month Vanessa and Jamie came in and trained with us.”
Despite the film’s experience, she shared her desire to work with Snyder again:
“I would mop the floor for Zack, whatever he wanted me to do I’d be there. I would play ‘Superman,’ if Kevin Costner drops out, he wants me to play Superman’s dad, I’m in for that.”
She last appeared as Laura in the drama film Monica, directed by Andrea Pallaoro.
And Zack Snyder’s upcoming epic space opera film, Rebel Moon, is scheduled for release by Netflix on December 22, 2023, with a limited theatrical run being taken into consideration.
Meanwhile, you can rent Sucker Punch on Apple TV.
Source- ComicBookDebate; Letterboxd; IndieWire
