Before the SnyderVerse, Zack Snyder was one of Warner Bros’ most prominent directors, with him having helmed the wildly successful 300 and Watchmen. While the latter of these two movies didn’t set the world on fire in terms of box office, it still did perfectly decent business, and for his follow-up, Snyder was given a lot of latitude to make what would be his first film based on an original concept, Sucker Punch. The story of a group of female mental patients who enter a fantasy world, the film was met with pretty dismal box office by Snyder’s standards. Critics had a field day with his fantasy epic, and fans mostly dismissed it as a weaker effort for the director.
While Sucker Punch was quickly forgotten once Snyder made Man of Steel and launched his ill-fated DC SnyderVerse, the movie has eked out a bit of a following amongst some of his most devoted fans. While an utterly bizarre film, it’s also pretty original with a terrific cast that includes Ghost Ship’s Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Chung, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Scott Glenn, Jon Hamm, and a pre-fame Oscar Isaac.
In this episode of WTF Happened to this Movie, we dig into the making of Snyder’s misbegotten fantasy epic, examining its fate at the box office and the cult that’s sprouted up around it. This episode is written by Jake Dee, narrated by Mathew Plale and edited by Jeremy Hamley.
Do you think Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch is underrated? Let us know in the comments!