Zack Snyder steps down from 'Justice League,' post family tragedy

In a shocking move, director Zack Snyder has stepped down from the director's chair for the superhero movie 'Justice League' after a family tragedy that has struck the Snyder family.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 51-year-old-director is stepping away from Justice League, Warner Bros.' all-star DC Comics superhero mega-movie that is in post production, in order to deal with the sudden death of his daughter, Autumn Snyder.

Snyder's wife, Deborah Snyder, who is one of the producers of the movie, is also taking a break to focus on their family.

The 'Avengers' fame Joss Whedon will step in to take the movie through post-production and shoot some additional scenes.

Snyder's daughter Autumn Snyder died by suicide in March at age 20. The movie was put on a two-week break for the Snyder family to deal with the immediate effects of the tragedy.

"What they are going through is unimaginable, and my heart - our hearts - go out to them," said Warner Bros. Pictures president Toby Emmerich.

The WB studio is fully behind the move.

The studio wanted to push back the release date but the Snyders decided against that.

After screening a rough cut of 'Justice League' for fellow filmmakers and friends, Zack wanted to add additional scenes, so he brought Whedon on board to write them.

"The directing is minimal and it has to adhere to the style and tone and the template that Zack set. We're not introducing any new

characters. It's the same characters in some new scenes. He's handing the baton to Joss, but the course has really been set by Zack. I still believe that despite this tragedy, we'll still end up with a great movie," shared Emmerich.

The '300' filmmaker did not want the news of her daughter's death to go public but after sometime he realized that he needed some time off to keep up with this tragedy.

He also said that he does not care about what some fans would say about his departure as he is "past caring about that kind of thing now" and shared that his kids need him the most at this time.