The director’s cut of the DC superhero team-up Justice League is hitting the new HBO Max streaming service in 2021. According to a press release, director Zack Snyder made the announcement during a live online commentary of his film Man of Steel with star Henry Cavill.
First thought you might have, if you haven’t been following the fanboy #ReleaseTheSnyderCut trend on social media for a few years (or the Change.org petition), is why? When League was released in 2017, it was panned by critics and disappointed at the box office.
But there were some underlying reasons for the $300 million film’s disjointed tone: Snyder stepped down during post-production after his daughter Autumn passed away. In his place arrived Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Avengers); while initial claims had the genre vet only altering a small part of the film, there was certainly an odd mix of dourness and light humor thrown together in the final product. It was also wildly inconsistent; Cavill had to have his mustache digitally removed for reshoots, since he was filming a Mission:Impossible sequel at the time.
For the new director’s cut — which had been championed by League stars Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck — Snyder may deliver a four-hour cut or six TV-style chapters, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It will be an entirely new thing, and, especially talking to those who have seen the released movie, a new experience apart from that [original cut] movie,” Snyder told the movie mag. “You probably saw one-fourth of what I did.”
At the very least, it’s going to add a few numbers to the original film’s enormous cost: finishing up visual effects and completing post-production may cost an estimated $20-$30 million.
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