Will we ever see The Snyder Cut, the fabled alternate version of Justice League? I really don’t know. But a lot of people want it to see the light of day – not just fans, but the folks associated with the film as well. Last night, director Zack Snyder and a large chunk of the Justice League cast took to social media to petition Warner Bros. to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. The comments looked so coordinated that many assumed it was all a build-up towards an official announcement that the cut was coming – perhaps to HBO Max. But that’s not the case. According to Warner Bros., there are no immediate plans to release the Snyder Cut. Unless they’re lying and this is all part of a very elaborate campaign.
If you were hanging out on Twitter last night you might have noticed that #ReleaseTheSnyderCut was trending. Yesterday marked the two-year anniversary of the domestic release of Justice League, an occasion that inspired Snyder Cut fans to go wild and Tweet the hashtag out. And the cast and director got in on the action with them.
This ancient Amazonian can’t be wrong. #releasethesnydercut https://t.co/XBdaE1ynkL
— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) November 17, 2019
Two Years. #releasethesnydercut pic.twitter.com/0hxRdzsH4b
— Ray Fisher (@rehsifyar) November 17, 2019
#ReleaseTheSnyderCut
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) November 17, 2019
Gal Gadot, Zack Snyder, Ben Affleck, and Ray Fisher all Tweeted out variations of the message. It got to a point where we were all pretty sure this was a build-up towards a big announcement. But that announcement never came – and it probably won’t be coming anytime soon. THR reached out to insiders and learned that “no announcement of a release of any such cut is imminent.” So maybe don’t get your hopes up.
In 2017, Justice League hit theaters – and the reaction was not great, to say the least. Critics panned the movie, and while it technically wasn’t a flop, it also wasn’t the box office smash that Warner Bros. had been hoping for. Before the movie even opened, though, there were concerns. Justice League had a turbulent production – something that was only made extra rocky in the wack of the underperformance of the dark, brooding Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice when compared to the success of the much more thematically positive Wonder Woman. Execs wanted changes.
Zack Snyder finished principal photography in either October or December of 2016 (sources vary), and a rough cut of Snyder’s work was put together for studio executives soon after. This cut apparently didn’t go over so well, and Warners still wanted more changes. But in 2017, Snyder had to step down from post-production duties in the wake of the death of his daughter.
After Snyder’s departure, Avengers filmmaker Joss Whedon was brought in to handle reshoots. Whedon did not receive a directorial credit, which – according to DGA guidelines – strongly indicates that a large chunk of what was released to theaters was indeed Snyder’s film, and not Whedon’s. Producer Charles Roven commented that the theatrical cut contained “80, 85 percent” of what Snyder originally shot, while the rest belonged to Whedon. However, this new cut of the film also excised several plotlines from Snyder’s cut – which was rumored to run three-and-a-half hours, compared to the 120-minute theatrical cut.
It’s worth noting that whatever the Snyder Cut is now, it’s bound to be rough. Effects work was never completed, which means if it ever sees the light of day it’s going to either have unfinished effects or someone is going to have to shell out some money to get that work done.
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