#ReleaseTheSnyderCut has been the social media driving force from fans in the wake of director Zack Snyder’s hampered mixed bag of untapped potential that was superhero ensemble, Justice League.
All you need really at this point is to check out Screen Junkies’s “honest trailer” from a few years ago (and maybe this one too just for shits and gigs) to get the gist of what’s what, but with rumors forever shrouding the conversation with suspicion over the existence of an unreleased director’s cut, it wasn’t until last December when Snyder made it official in a not-so-cryptic Vero post.
That, and everything else the director has posted in the months since then now brings us to the timely announcement of Snyder’s director’s cut of Justice League, which will now have its exclusive world premiere in 2021 on streaming platform, HBO Max, which officially launches on May 27. The Warner Bros. Pictures/DC was announced on Wednesday morning during a live online commentary of his film Man of Steel with actor Henry Cavill.
“I want to thank HBO Max and Warner Brothers for this brave gesture of supporting artists and allowing their true visions to be realized. Also a special thank you to all of those involved in the SnyderCut movement for making this a reality,” said Snyder.
“Since I got here 14 months ago, the chant to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut has been a daily drumbeat in our offices and inboxes. Well, the fans have asked, and we are thrilled to finally deliver. At the end of the day, it really is all about them and we are beyond excited to be able to release Zack’s ultimate vision for this film in 2021. This could never have happened if it weren’t for the hard work and combined efforts of the teams at HBO Max and Warner Bros. Pictures,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, Warner Media Entertainment and Direct-To-Consumer.
“When Zack and Debbie shared the extraordinary vision of where Zack wanted to take Justice League, my team and our counterparts at Warner Bros. took it as a mission to solve the many issues that stood in the way,” said Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer at HBO Max, President, TNT, TBS and truTV. “Thanks to the partnership at Warner Bros. and the relentless pursuit of the entire WarnerMax team we are able to deliver this incredibly exciting moment for Zack, the fans and HBO Max.”
“Thanks to the efforts of a lot people, we’re excited to bring fans this highly anticipated version of Justice League,” said Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group. “This feels like the right time to share Zack’s story, and HBO Max is the perfect platform for it. We’re glad the creative planets aligned, allowing us to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.”
Justice League initially opened in November 2017, picking up after the releases of 2013’s Man Of Steel, Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Patty Jenkins’s smash hit, Wonder Woman. In the film, Ben Affleck reprises his Batman vs. Superman role as the titular dark knight opposite Gadot as the Amazonian warrioress, gathering an ensemble of metahuman heroes to stand against a newly awakened threat.
Next to 2016’s Suicide Squad, the studio followed suit in 2018 with James Wan’s Aquaman which is in development for a sequel by the studio, and David F. Sandberg’s Shazam. The studio still has several DC-related properties in tow, including Andy Muschietti’s The Flash for 2022, and a Green Lantern Corps movie, as well as a Shazam! sequel from director David F. Sandberg. Jenkins’s Wonder Woman 1984 returns Gal Gadot to the title role, opening in theaters on August 14.