Seems pretty clear that Gunn decided to take over the film in post production, made his own edit and had it compete with Gillespie and decided to release his own edit even though Gillespie’s...
Gunn and Gillespie had creative differences over the direction of the movie, numerous sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, and the film never found its footing in the post-production process. The test scores, which are counted on a scale out of 100 points, never escaped the 60s, according to multiple insiders. Another insider said the movie’s top score was 70.
Filming wrapped in May 2025, and as early as the fall of that year, the studio and Gillespie knew the movie wasn’t working. After a December test screening proved to be just okay, the studio decided to take matters into its own hands and took charge of the post-production to make its own cut. Gunn also enlisted writer Jeremy Slater, who previously wrote an unmade feature based on DC superhero team The Authority, to help with the post-production process.
There were signs that things were getting better. Deep into winter, test scores improved and hit the low 70s. However, rather than continue to tinker away on that cut, the studio decided to force a bakeoff by creating two cuts, one by Gillespie and one by the studio.
It is unclear what major differences emerged, but one source says Gillespie’s version was 11 minutes longer and featured more of the villain, Krem, played by Matthias Schoenaerts. When the two competing versions tested, the scores surprisingly dropped significantly, although the studio’s inched out ahead of Gillespie’s…but by only two points, according to sources. Gillespie’s version scored strongly on song choices, pacing and villain. Eking out a win, even a middling one, the studio chose its cut as the one to go into theaters. A studio insider says the differences were not particularly pronounced.
Seems pretty clear that Gunn decided to take over the film in post production, made his own edit and had it compete with Gillespie and decided to release his own edit even though Gillespie’s tested a bit higher. Very Suicide Squad-esque level of mess.
So much for this being a filmmaker friendly space lol.
As much as I loved Superman, I think this shows that Gunn is way over his head and that they needed a seasoned producer to take over the IP (like Dan Lin who nearly got the job as he produced The Lego Movies, It, and Sherlock Holmes for WB). Because now Gunn is looking to replace Andy Muschietti to direct The Brave and the Bold. Not what you’d want out of a studio exec lol.
Seems pretty clear that Gunn decided to take over the film in post production, made his own edit and had it compete with Gillespie and decided to release his own edit even though Gillespie’s tested a bit higher. Very Suicide Squad-esque level of mess.
So much for this being a filmmaker friendly space lol.
As much as I loved Superman, I think this shows that Gunn is way over his head and that they needed a seasoned producer to take over the IP (like Dan Lin who nearly got the job as he produced The Lego Movies, It, and Sherlock Holmes for WB). Because now Gunn is looking to replace Andy Muschietti to direct The Brave and the Bold. Not what you’d want out of a studio exec lol.