The Justice League “Snyder Cut” will be released on Mar. 18 on streaming platforms, HBO Max and in theaters. Director Zack Snyder said the movie will be “four hours and a few minutes with credit.” It is a reboot of Director Joss Whedon’s Justice League movie in 2017.
According to rottentomatoes.com, the 2017 Justice League movie got a 40% Rotten Tomatoes rating, which is a very poor rating for the first ever Justice League non-animated film.
Snyder had to step down from post-production of the first Justice League movie because of his daughter’s death. Whedon took over after the news came out that Snyder could not direct the film anymore.
Snyder said that the new Justice League film is going to have 2.5 hours of unseen footage that was not displayed in the 2017 film, which is why it is so long.
According to cbr.com, the “Snyder Cut” used a total budget of $70 million. If you take into consideration the original version of Justice League, the total budget would be $300 million. It became one of the most expensive movies to film.
After the release of “Wonder Woman 1984” on Dec. 25, 2020, the subscriber count for HBO Max went over 41 million, according to AT&T CEO John Starkey. Another DC movie like the “Snyder Cut” streaming on HBO Max could benefit the streaming service greatly.
In wake of promoting this movie, Warner Bros. released a trailer on Mar. 10 for just the main villains: Darkseid & Steppenwolf. Darkseid, who is played by Ray Porter, was not shown in the first Justice League movie, and Steppenwolf, played by Ciarán Hinds, did not turn out as well as fans hoped he would.
Screenrant said that Snyder was the lead designer in recreating Steppenwolf’s appearance from the first movie. Steppenwolf will still be the lead antagonist in this movie but will fight alongside Darkseid.
Although most movie theaters around the globe have had to close down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, streaming services have seen a huge jump.
According to a study done by statista.com, “…just 14 percent of adults said that they strongly preferred seeing a movie for the first time in a theater, and 36 percent said that they would much rather stream the film at home than visit a cinema.”
In the study done by Statista, when comparing streaming to going to the theaters, there has been a huge shift in consumer behavior.
“Preferences for watching a new release in a cinema instead of via a streaming service in the United States changed significantly between 2018 and 2020, signaling a shift in consumer behavior and potentially a risk for movie theaters in the country. Also important to note is the effect of the coronavirus on consumer confidence.”