To say Justice League was polarizing would be a grave understatement. For the most part, moviegoers either loved it or hated it, and many of those who claimed to love it still voiced their dissatisfaction with the overall direction of the film, particularly in regards to the extensive reshoots overseen by Joss Whedon after Zack Snyder stepped down following a family tragedy.
It didn’t take long for that dissatisfaction to transform into a full-blown fan petition demanding Warner Bros. release a Zack Snyder Director’s Cut of Justice League. However, despite earning nearly 200,000 signatures, it seems as though all we’ll be getting with the Blu-ray release is a single deleted scene that’s less than two minutes in length. And you know what? It’s really not all that surprising.
A Zack Snyder cut of Justice League was never going to happen – here’s why:
It Likely Doesn’t Even Exist
Alright, let’s clear up a common misconception. A “director’s cut” is something that exists for every motion picture, as it’s part of the filmmaking process. Essentially, it’s an edited version of the film the director approves to be screened to the studio, production company, distributors, etc. From there, it goes through any and all necessary changes, and the resulting product – the one intended for theatrical release – is called the final cut.
While the director’s cut is generally indicative of the director’s vision, this version of the film often contains placeholder shots, a preliminary soundtrack, and unrefined visual effects. So, does a “director’s cut” of Justice League exist? Keeping semantics in mind, of course it does. However, what fans actually want is what’s known as an extended cut, ultimate cut, special edition, etc., which very likely does not exist. In fact, that brings us to our next point.
Even If It Does Exist, It Would Cost Too Much To Finish It
OK, so we’ve established that a “director’s cut” of Justice League is out there because it’s part of the filmmaking process. That being said, why didn’t Warner Bros. allow Snyder to finish it? Well, quite frankly, it costs a lot of money to turn a true director’s cut into something suitable for theatrical or home release. It requires extensive editing to polish the visual effects, score, and soundtrack, getting the actors back in for ADR (additional dialogue recording or automated dialogue replacement), in which they re-record their lines to improve audio quality in certain segments, and sometimes, it even requires more reshoots.
Given Justice League’s poor box office reception – at least relative to Warner Bros.’ original expectations – why would fans think the studio would want to pour even more money into it? Some may argue that the home release sales would surge, but are we sure that’s really the case?
Even If It Was Finished, It Likely Wouldn’t Make Enough Money To Justify It
Yes, nearly 200,000 fans signed a petition demanding a Snyder cut of Justice League, which – as we’ve already established – would require Warner Bros. to open up its checkbook once again, further inflating the film’s bloated $300 million estimated budget. What was WB’s incentive to do this, though? Are those 200,000 fans not going to buy the Blu-ray? Maybe not, but at this point, it doesn’t really affect the studio’s bottom line.
Let’s pretend WB decided it was worthwhile to invest in finishing a Snyder cut. Regardless of what you thought of the film, the reviews and box office numbers are proof positive that there was a genuine lack of interest in Justice League among general audiences, and from a studio perspective, it’d be naïve to think the majority of the people who paid to see it once and didn’t like it would pay to see it again, regardless of what bells and whistles it came with. Every movie is something of a gamble, no matter how much of a built-in audience the subject matter has, and when company’s make a big gamble and it doesn’t pay off as they expected, it takes more than a fan petition to convince them to risk even more diminishing returns.
Warner Bros. Wants To Distance Itself From Zack Snyder
In all seriousness, it’s highly unlikely Zack Snyder will ever return to the director’s chair to helm another DC Comics-inspired film. In fact, we already learned that if it does happen, it certainly won’t be anytime soon.
“There are no immediate plans for Snyder to direct another DC movie, though he is producing or executive producing several, including Wonder Woman 2 and “Aquaman,” reads a December 2017 report from Variety. “Warner Bros. continues to have a production deal with Snyder, so it’s possible he could direct additional films for the studio. Time Warner is said to be frustrated that Warner Bros. leaders continue to bring the director back, especially after Batman v Superman was excoriated by critics even though it made money. They are also upset that each new DC film seems to be making less money than its predecessor. Only Wonder Woman, with its optimistic heroine, managed to be both a critical and commercial success.”
With this report coming out so soon after Justice League’s theatrical release, why would fans believe a studio that so clearly wants to distance itself from Snyder would have any inclination to bring him back to work on another cut of the film that was very much the straw that broke the camel’s back?
The Fan Campaign Demanding A Snyder Cut Was Riddled With Bad Press
Ask any parent what it’s like to have their kids pester them for hours on end to buy them candy, take them to the toy store, let them play video games before they finish their homework, etc. Chances are, they’ll tell you the more the kid begs, the less they want to do it.
That’s not to say fans demanding a Snyder cut of Justice League are exactly the same as whining children, but Warner Bros. clearly had no intention of releasing one, and the more fans pressed the studio, the less likely it became; not only because it would have been a bad investment but because of the negative press surrounding it. When the change.org petition was hacked and people began receiving notifications thanking them for signing it, even though they never did, it took away most of the sincerity of the campaign and replaced it with desperation and pettiness (as if the social media noise didn’t already do that). Alone, this probably wouldn’t have been enough to dissuade the studio, but compounded with everything else on this list, it’s easy to see why WB not releasing a Zack Snyder cut was practically a foregone conclusion from the start.