Justice League ‘Snyder Cut’ to debut on HBO Max in the U.S. in 2021, but Canadian release unclear

Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that Zack Snyder’s director’s cut of Justice League will begin streaming exclusively on HBO Max in the U.S. sometime in 2021.

Snyder’s version of Justice League, often referred to online as the ‘Snyder Cut,’ has been highly requested by fans ever since the DC Comics superhero film hit theatres in November 2017.

However, international rollout plans have yet to be determined, a Warner Bros. spokesperson has confirmed to MobileSyrup. Therefore, it remains to be seen if and when the Snyder Cut will be available in Canada, given that HBO Max is currently only set to launch in the U.S. on May 27th.

As it stands, select HBO Max content is set to come to Bell’s Crave service in Canada, although specific details like release timing and exact titles have yet to be confirmed. Other major DC films, such as Aquaman and Joker, are also licensed to Crave. As a result, it seems likely that the Snyder Cut would come to Crave, although there’s no word on if and when that will actually happen. The Toronto Sun reports that the Snyder Cut is, indeed, coming to Crave, although Warner Bros. has yet to publicly confirm that.

Nonetheless, this is surely exciting news for many moviegoers. The version of Justice League that originally released in theatres received negative reviews and underperformed at the box office following a troubled production.

In May 2017, Snyder — who had helmed Justice League lead-in films Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice — bowed out of Justice League due to the death of his daughter. At the time, much of the film remained unfinished, leading Warner Bros. to bring in Joss Whedon, the writer-director of Marvel’s The Avengers, to complete the project. In the process, significant changes were made to the movie — so much so, in fact, that Snyder says only about one-quarter of the finished product was his work.

In the months since Justice League hit theatres, fans have taken to social media to call for the Snyder Cut to be released. A popular hashtag, “#ReleaseTheSnyderCut,” was born out of these efforts.

Petitions to get the Snyder Cut released amassed tens of thousands of signatures, while other passionate fans even paid to promote the cause via a Times Square billboard and banner-clad plane over San Diego Comic-Con. Meanwhile, some of the Justice League stars themselves, including Ben Affleck (Batman), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) and Jason Momoa (Aquaman), have publicly called for the release of the Snyder Cut.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, details on how the Snyder Cut will turn out are still up in the air, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s because extensive work will need to be done to complete Snyder’s vision for the film, including new dialogue with the actors, new music and additional VFX work. This could all cost between $20 million USD (about $27.7 million CAD) and $30 million USD (roughly $41.7 million CAD), according to THR, although an official budget has not been specified.

“It will be an entirely new thing, and, especially talking to those who have seen the released movie, a new experience apart from that movie,” Snyder told THR.

Source: Warner Media