Zack Snyder is pushing to bring his highly anticipated director’s cut of 2017’s “Justice League” to the big screen according to an interview he has just done with EW.
As we know, Snyder is planning the project first as a four-episode series for HBO Max followed by a single four-hour film cut together.
He says that all the footage will likely tip the four-hour opus into an R-rated feature due to the amount of profanity and violence as opposed to something more graphic (eg. nude Superman):
“The movie is insane and so epic and is probably rated R – that’s one thing I think will happen, that it will be an R-rated version, for sure. We haven’t heard from the MPAA, but that’s my gut. There’s one scene where Batman drops an F-bomb. Cyborg is not too happy with what’s going on with his life before he meets the Justice League, and he tends to speak his mind. And Steppenwolf is pretty much just hacking people in half. So [the rating would be due to] violence and profanity, probably both.”
Though a decision on whether to release the film theatrically has not yet been made, and Warners had no comment for the story, Snyder indicates steps are being taken in the direction of bringing the super sized recut film to cinemas:
“I’m a huge fan and a big supporter of the cinematic experience, and we’re already talking about Justice League playing theatrically at the same time it’s coming to HBO Max. So weirdly, it’s the reverse [of the trend].”
Warner Bros. Pictures is releasing every film on its 2021 slate on HBO Max at the same time as their theatrical release, a move that’s drawn considerable criticism from filmmakers. Snyder himself was asked where he stands on it:
“It felt like a pretty bold move and that maybe the implication wasn’t 100% thought out. I feel like there’s a lot of people panicking during COVID. I hope that, in the end, that’s what this was – some sort of knee-jerk to COVID and not some sort of greater move to disrupt the theatrical experience.
I thought we were kind of already getting very close to the ideal theatrical window where you still had marketing material out there and you hadn’t forgotten about the film by the time it came out on DVD or streaming. I thought we were starting to hone in on that sweet spot, but this kind of throws a monkey wrench in the works.”
Snyder’s vision to rework the film into a limited series/film for HBO Max is coming in at a reported cost of up to $70 million. Whatever format it comes in, the project will arrive sometime in 2021.
