After more than two years of campaigning and grassroots lobbying, fans of Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, are finally getting what they've been asking for. It was announced minutes ago that Zack Snyder’s never-before-seen director’s cut of Justice League will premiere on HBO Max in 2021. According to Rolling Stone, Snyder had to leave the project before it's completion after the death of his daughter. The studio brought in Avengers director Joss Whedon to finish the project, and, sources said at the time, to lighten the tone in response to audience reaction to Snyder's dark, brooding Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Whedon's version of the film was an odd mashup of footage that Snyder shot and new material that Whedon wrote and filmed, with the cast brought back in for additional photography. Superman actor Henry Cavill's mustache had to be digitally covered up in all of the new footage. His contract for Mission: Impossible - Fallout prevented him from shaving it. It came out looking a little weird.
A very vocal group of fans has spent the two year's since Justice League's November 2017 premiere demanding that the studio allow original director Snyder to finish his version of the movie. According to this morning's announcement, their day is coming.
Snyder said in a statement:
“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."
Zack Snyder and his wife and producing partner, Deborah Snyder, are currently reassembling much of their original postproduction team to score, edit, add new and finish old visual effects. They might even bring back some of the actors to record additional dialogue.
Snyder's cut of the film is rumored to have a runtime of more than four hours, so there is speculation that HBO's new streaming platform could release it as a 6-part series.
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