Despite being listed as its director, Zack Snyder has never seen “Justice League,” or at least not the version of the superhero epic that debuted in theaters in 2017 with overwhelming reviews and disappointing box office. Snyder – who was replaced by “Avengers” director Joss Whedon during the film’s torturous production – had a darker, longer and less humorous vision of the film. It is something he will finally be able to accomplish with the release of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” on March 18 on HBO Max.
After Whedon’s reinterpretation on the Warner Bros. lot, executive producer Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder, the director’s wife and production partner, had a direct message to Snyder. “They came and just said, ‘You can never see this movie,'” Snyder told Vanity Fair in the magazine’s extensive look at the long and sometimes improbable path that “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” traveled to reach the screens. What started out as an internet meme has morphed into an expensive bet that Snyder will be able to rescue a much-maligned comic adaptation, expanding its duration to four hours and inserting new stories and more characters. Snyder estimates for Vanity Fair that reshoots and post-production costs have reached a price of $ 70 million. Length was a persistent problem even before Snyder left the project – the filmmaker was tasked with creating DC’s response to Marvels’ “Avengers” films, uniting Superman, Batman, The Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg into a super team.
“How am I going to introduce six characters and an alien with the potential to take over the world in two hours? I mean, I can do this, it can be done. Clearly that was done, ”Snyder told the magazine. “But I did not see.”
Snyder was fighting with the studio before he left, but it was a family tragedy that convinced him to hand the reins to Whedon after his 20-year-old daughter Autumn committed suicide. He is revisiting “Justice League” to honor his memory.
“At the end of the film, it says ‘For the fall’,” said Snyder. “Without it, it absolutely wouldn’t have happened.”
Whedon reportedly remade about 75% of the film. His behavior on the set led to accusations of abuse by actors like Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg. Whedon did not respond to Vanity Fair’s request for comment, but it does not appear that Warner Bros. he was very happy with his version.
“When we were able to see what Joss really did, it was overwhelming,” an anonymous studio executive told the magazine. “The thief on the roof – so silly and horrible. The Russian family – so useless and meaningless. Everyone knew that. It was so weird because nobody wanted to admit what the shit was. “
The fans agreed, mounting a pressure campaign in the studio to relaunch the film, with the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut going viral. WarnerMedia, which was looking to draw attention to HBO Max, its Netflix challenger, tried to persuade Snyder to take another pass. When he left the project, he took out his laptop that contained its original, much longer version of “Justice League”. However, it had no special effects or music or other subtleties. Initially, the company asked him to release his version without the expensive touches and reshoots.
“I was like, ‘This is a no, this is a difficult no …” said Snyder. “Here’s why. Three reasons: one, you take the internet off your back, which is probably the main reason for wanting to do that. Two, you start to feel justified in getting things right, I think, on some level And then three, you have a shitty version of the movie that you can point to and say, ‘See? It’s not that good. So maybe I was right.’ I was like, ‘No way. Snyder’s would be a mythical unicorn forever. ‘”
WarnerMedia relented, but to get the kind of control over the project he didn’t get in the feature film, Snyder had to give up his salary.
“I’m not getting paid,” Snyder told the magazine. “I didn’t want to be in debt to anyone, and it allowed me to maintain my negotiating powers with these very strong people.”
Visit Vanity Fair to see the creation of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” in depth.