After more than three years of waiting, Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally arrives next month. And it won’t just be fans in the U.S. that have the chance to see the fabled Snyder Cut. The filmmaker has confirmed that his definitive version of the movie will release worldwide on the same day. On March 18, virtually everyone around the globe will have the opportunity to see what all of the fuss was about from the comfort of home.
Platform availability will depend on each territory (with the exception of China, France, and Japan, where the release dates are TBD). Additional details for specific markets will be shared soon. (2/2)
— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) February 19, 2021
Zack Snyder took to Twitter to break the news. It has been previously confirmed that this new, much longer version of Justice League would arrive on HBO Max in the U.S. on March 18. Now, Snyder has revealed that it will be available in most markets around the world via some form of digital offering, be it a streaming service, on-demand rental/purchase or digital download. Here’s what Snyder had to say about it.
“Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be available worldwide in all markets on the same day as in the U.S. on March 18 via on-demand, digital download, linear, or streaming. Platform availability will depend on each territory (with the exception of China, France, and Japan, where the release dates are TBD). Additional details for specific markets will be shared soon.
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The only exceptions to this release will be China, France and Japan. The studio says that release dates in those countries are to be determined. What remains to be seen is whether or not the studio will invest in a theatrical release. Given that the Snyder Cut is going to be nearly four hours long, that would be challenging in the best of times. Considering how bad things continue to be at the box office, it is even more difficult. But Snyder has teased that there are possible plans for a theatrical release of some kind. Though that will likely happen at a later date.
This has all been a long time coming. Zack Snyder departed the production of Justice League in 2017. Joss Whedon stepped in to oversee extensive rewrites and reshoots. The theatrical version, as a result, was nothing like what Snyder had originally intended. Fans quickly began calling on the studio to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. The relentless demand led Warner Bros. to give Snyder millions to finish the movie, which was nowhere near complete. Only one new scene was shot, which introduced Jared Leto’s Joker to the movie. We got a glimpse of that scene in the recent trailer.
Since Justice League lost a lot of money at the box office, given its inflated budget, this would seem like a poor investment, on the surface. The idea is to attract subscribers to HBO Max, which has yet to truly catch on in the way WarnerMedia had hoped since it launched last year. Given how many fans are eager, or at least curious, to see this new version of the DC Comics superhero team-up, the hope is that investment will pay off in subscriber dollars. You can check out the announcement from Zack Snyder’s Twitter account.