MUNTINLUPA
CITY – Comic giant DC’s most popular hero team-up will be released (again) with
the live-action feature film, ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ on HBO Max this
March. Despite being initially released in theaters in 2017, a revisiting of
the project has been greenlit due to a movement that is motivated by none other
than... the fans.
Probably the biggest question among typical moviegoers would be the distinction between the
one that has come out in 2017 and the one that’s releasing this year. Technically
a continuation of its prequels, ‘Man of Steel (2013)’ and ‘Batman v Superman:
Dawn of Justice (2016)’, director Zack Snyder is once again recalled by Warner
Bros. Pictures to helm the directorial seat for ‘Justice League’, which is
slated for a November 2017 release. However, due to the unfavorable feedback
that its predecessor has received from the critics, the studio has obscurely
pushed for the filmmaker’s removal from the project.
Coinciding
with the tragic death in the family with Snyder’s adopted daughter Autumn
taking her own life after having battled depression for years, the studio has
taken this as an opportunity for the permanent removal of Zack Snyder and wife
Deborah Snyder (who was then Executive Producer of the film) from the movie’s
post-production.
Instead of stepping
on where the Snyders have left, another studio interference has been seen as
necessary and that is the inclusion of Joss Whedon in the Justice League
project. By the time DC films have been hitting loopy box office footings with
the cinematic universe it tries to build, opposing comic titan Marvel Studios
have been giving hits after hits. That is why Whedon who’s been known for his
mega successful ‘Avengers’ and ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ is pitched to switch
to DC and rewrite some parts of the movie that Snyder has already wrapped up
filming.
Minor
rewrites soon become extensive and rewrites turn into reshoots. The cast and
crew are all recalled for a two-month reshoot while keeping in track with its
set release. One major letdown of this reshoot is Superman actor Henry Cavil
having to tape his scenes again while forced to keep his mustache for another
project that he is then filming, ‘Mission Impossible: Fallout’. The solution
has been to digitally remove Cavil’s mustache in post-production, resulting to
the laughable mouth that Superman/Clark Kent ended up displaying in the movie.
When ‘Justice
League’ hits theaters in 2017, it has become one of DC’s lowest box office
($657.9 million) despite having an initial budget of $70 million. IMDb rated it
6.3/10 while it is labeled rotten at 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite Zack
Snyder getting full credentials as director of the movie, it is easy for casual
moviegoers to point out its inconsistency with its prequels. While the movies
that have set up its existence are dark and gritty with a very serious tone, ‘Justice
League’ tries its best to be light, colorful, and features a Batman cracking
jokes and cheesy lines here and there. An effort is made to follow the formula
of the opposing franchise but obviously fails greatly.
In this
light, fans of both DC and Snyder have exerted all means for the release of the
original version of the movie as intended by the original director. They all
want a movie that carries on the tone set upon the cinematic universe they have
become comfortable with. The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement is initiated, which
then turns into a fundraising activity all together. The hashtag raises half a
million dollars for suicide prevention and funded numerous efforts to push the
studio to give the version of ‘Justice League’, which has been then considered
as a mythical unicorn. Such steps include a flying banner with the hashtag and
huge billboards set up at Times Square for the release of the so-called “Snyder
Cut”.
In December
2019, Zack Snyder on VERO confirms that his cut of the movie indeed exists in a
rough black and white cut clocking in at 2 hours and 14 minutes.
In May 2020
during a watch-along party for ‘Man of Steel’ hosted by Snyder and his wife, it
is announced that the original cut of the movie is finally greenlit by Warner
Media and will get a 2021 release exclusively on HBO Max.
The release
of a director’s original cut of a film without any studio interference is uncommon
in the industry and this feat definitely shouts reform. Now officially called ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’, an unimpeded four-hour-long version of the
movie is set for a worldwide release on various streaming services. It has been
originally announced that the movie will release exclusively on HBO Max, but
then again, the demand for its release outside Northern America is heard. Asian
countries, including the Philippines, may see this E-Rated superhero team-up
flick on HBO Go.
See
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, The Flash, and Aquaman (plus some
surprise iconic appearances) league up for ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ on
international streaming services starting March 18, 2021.
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