Update: Please see a statement at the end of this article from Zack Snyder thanking people for their support.

Following a heartbreaking personal tragedy, Zack Snyder and his wife Deborah Snyder are stepping down from production on Justice League . Warner Bros. confirms Marvel's The Avengers director Joss Whedon will finish the film, which is still on track for its November 2017 release date.

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In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , the Snyders announced Monday that they are taking time off from Justice League following the March suicide of his 20-year-old daughter Autumn. Though they originally felt like they could continue to complete the movie and didn't plan to take the news public, the Snyders have since decided to take time with their family to heal."In my mind, I thought it was a cathartic thing to go back to work, to just bury myself and see if that was way through it," Zack Snyder tells THR. "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. Pictures president Toby Emmerich says the studio stands behind the Snyders, saying, "What they are going through is unimaginable, and my heart -- our hearts -- go out to them." Snyder's DCEU colleagues and filmmaking peers were quick to send their condolences to the director and his family.Warner Bros. first suggested pushing back the release of Justice League, but according to THR "the Snyders decided against that suggestion." WB extended Snyder a first-look deal to "give him time to work on other planned projects when he returns to work," THR reports.Whedon will take over the post-production process for Snyder. Per THR, Snyder realized after screening a rough cut of Justice League to friends and filmmakers that he wanted to add additional scenes to the movie, and tapped Whedon to write them. Now Whedon will also direct the additional scenes in England."The directing is minimal and it has to adhere to the style and tone and the template that Zack set," Emmerich tells THR. "We’re not introducing any new characters. It’s the same characters in some new scenes. He’s handing a 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."In addition to notably directing Marvel's The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, Whedon already was attached to join the DC Extended Universe. He is slated to direct a big screen movie version of Batgirl , and recently shared he doesn't have an eye on a specific star yet Following rumors that Justice League would be undergoing "massive reshoots," producer Charles Roven recently spoke with Collider about Justice League's post-production status, saying, "We're in the middle of it, and I think it’s pretty common knowledge that we’re going to be doing some additional photography. The complications of trying to, you know—Henry [Cavill]’s on Mission: Impossible, and our Aquaman is making Aquaman, Amy [Adams]’ doing Sharper Objects [sic]—so everybody’s busy, and it’s that crazy Rubix cube of trying to find a way of getting everybody in the place to do the work that we need to do. Which is not that vast, the amount of work that we have to do, but it’s still really complicated that everybody’s in different places around the world."The reality is we are in the midst of trying to schedule the only additional photography that we’ve been trying to schedule. We haven’t done any additional photography up to this point."Justice League is still slated for its November 17, 2017 release date. IGN has reached out to Warner Bros. for additional comment.Autumn, who is Zack's daughter from his first marriage with Denise Webe, was attending Sarah Lawrence College and had written a sci-fi fantasy novel in the first person, which the Snyders are hoping to one day publish. Zack tells THR that her death has brought him a "new perspective" and "new focus": "I want the movie to be amazing and I’m a fan, but that all pales pretty quickly in comparison. I know the fans are going to be worried about the movie but there are seven other kids that need me. In the end, it’s just a movie. It’s a great movie. But it’s just a movie."

Zack Snyder has posted to social media to thank his fans and colleagues for their outpouring of support.The original report follows.

Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz