David Ayer, who helmed 2016’s Suicide Squad, has said that the Warner Bros. version released in cinemas is “not my movie.”

• READ MORE: The Suicide Squad review: a bold and boisterous reunion with the DCEU’s best bad guys

In a lengthy, personal post on Twitter, the filmmaker claimed that the studio behind Suicide Squad “ripped to pieces” the film that he had originally made.

“I put my life into Suicide Squad,” he wrote in the post. “I made something amazing. My cut is [an] intricate and emotional journey with some “bad people” who are shit on and discarded (a theme that resonates in my soul). The studio cut is not my movie. Read that again.”

He added: “My cut is not the 10 week director’s cut – it’s a fully mature edit by Lee Smith standing on the incredible work by John Gilroy.

It’s all Steven Price’s brilliant score, with not a single radio song in the whole thing. It has traditional character arcs, amazing performances, a solid third-act resolution.”

My turn… https://t.co/E5uumAwvdp pic.twitter.com/ckr9kzeGFD

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) July 29, 2021

According to Ayer, only a very small handful of people have seen his version of the film. “If someone says they have seen it, they haven’t,” he said.

In March, Warner Media CEO Ann Starnoff told Variety that they would not be releasing Ayer’s cut of Suicide Squad, despite releasing Zack Snyder’s extended version of Justice League earlier this year.

The resurgence of interest in Ayer’s film comes from the release of James Gunn’s new take on the story, which is released in cinemas today (July 30).

Currently, Gunn’s film has received more positive reviews than any other DC or Marvel film that has come before it.

In its four-star review, NME called the film “a bombastic, full-throttle romp that’s easy to follow whether you’re a DCEU stan or not.”

“I’m so proud of James and excited for the success that’s coming,” Ayer wrote in his post.