Zack Snyder has stepped down from directing Justice League in order to spend time with his family as they deal with a recent tragedy.
Snyder's daughter, Autumn (20) died by suicide in March of this year. The director told The Hollywood Reporter that the tragedy has prompted him to step away from the superhero film and hire Joss Whedon to complete post production on the film.
"I’ve decided to take a step back from the movie to be with my family, be with my kids, who really need me." he said. Zack's wife, Deborah Snyder, who was serving as a producer on the film will also be stepping away from the film so that the couple can focus on the healing of their family.
In an interview with THR, Snyder revealed that he had planned to return to work on the film after taking shutting down production for an initial two weeks in order to deal with the immediate effects of the tragedy but soon realised that he needed to take more time for both his family and himself.
“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,” Snyder said. “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.”
Warner Bros. initially suggested pushing back the release date of the film in order to accommodate the Snyders but they decided against that, instead asking Joss Whedon to step in to oversee post production. Whedon, who wrote and directed the first two Avengers movies and will write and direct Batgirl for Warner Bros. will also shoot some additional scenes for the film that Snyder had been preparing to film in the UK before coming to the realisation that he needed to step away.
Via THR
