We now have a slightly better idea of when HBO Max will #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. It was announced back in May that Zack Snyder will get to complete his version of Justice League, which will make its way to the recently-launched streaming service as an exclusive title. With any luck, it will be here sooner rather than later, according to a top executive at WarnerMedia.
Sandra Dewey, president of productions and business operations for WarnerMedia Entertainment, recently delivered a keynote address at the virtual Cannes market. Dewey oversees HBO Max, which represents the company’s major streaming play, meant to compete with Netflix more directly. When addressing Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Dewey said that we can expect to see it debut in “early to mid-2021.” Unfortunately, for the time being, she couldn’t get more specific than that. But that is still a little more information than we had previously.
When the announcement was made it was only stated that the much-discussed version of Justice League would arrive in 2021, but without any further clarification. Zack Snyder has already been working on the cut for several months behind the scenes. Though early reports made it seem like a cut was just sitting, waiting to be released by Warner Bros., that turned out to not be the case. Rather, an assembly cut existed that was far from finished. To get it release-ready for streaming, the studio is spending $30 million or more to complete the extensive visual effects work needed, in addition to possibly bringing in the cast for additional voice work. While Snyder had hoped to do some reshoots, it seems that is off the table for now.
The theatrical version of the superhero team-up was largely the product of Joss Whedon’s rewrites and reshoots. Zack Snyder has been quite clear that what was released did not represent his vision for the movie. Justice League was a critical and commercial disappointment, bringing in $657 million against its inflated $300 million budget.
Fans campaigned aggressively to have the Snyder Cut released in the years that followed the movie’s initial release in 2017. Snyder estimates that we have seen roughly one-fourth of what he has. It is said that his original cut clocked in at nearly four hours. No release strategy has been firmed up, but it’s quite possible the new HBO Max version will be released as a miniseries to allow Snyder to keep the lengthy runtime in place.
A teaser trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League was recently released, which gave us our first look at Darkseid in action. The famed DC villain, who will be played by actor Ray Ported, did not appear in the theatrical cut. It is expected that we will see a full-length trailer during the recently announced DC FanDome event, which will take place in August. We will be sure to keep you posted as further details are made available. This news comes to us via Variety.
