Justice League comes out in theaters on November 17, 2017 in theaters and on March 13, 2018 on DVD and Blu-Ray, but that isn’t where the story starts.
The story starts in April of 2016 when the production started.
May 2017, Zack Snyder was announced to be stepping down from the production of the movie.
There were multiple reasons for why Zack Snyder stepped down, the first is he and his family greatly suffered as a result of his daughter committing suicide. It’s enough to change a lot for someone, and anyone would be reasonable to step away from projects as a result. Another story circulating stated that Warners Brothers supposedly got a copy of Snyder’s cut and were not only disappointed but wanted to fire him specifically as a result.
They then hired Joss Whedon who made major changes to the theme and final concept of the film. Whedon even changed out the score for the movie in the swap up. One of the major issues caused by this was, of course, the hilarious Superman lip issue, as a result of Henry Cavill’s contractual requirement to not shave his mustache while working on the Mission Impossible film.
Even though so much work was done to correct the supposedly unusable film, it was still released to fan criticism and a belief that Zack Snyder’s original cut was actually a superior film, with people starting online petitions requesting it’s release, and even flying banners and skywriting at San Diego Comic Con. Some fanatics even went as far as saying that they somehow saw the unfinished cut, and say that it was a better film.
Recently HBO Max has announced that they will be bringing the Snyder Cut of Justice League to the streaming platform in 2021, contracting with Zack Snyder to actually finish his vision, a high costing maneuver that was tied in directly before the release of the for-pay streaming service.
While it’s clear why the company did so, we thought it would be fun to break down some famous other instances of directors’ cuts and talk about why directors’ cuts get released.
Famous Cuts In History
All of the Lord of the Rings films had extended directors cuts because the films were huge monsters, and the studio knew that no one would sit in a theater for a four-hour movie, they should have had more faith in nerds, Disney eventually got there with their films, and made serious bank!
One of the most impressive of director’s cuts was probably that of Blade Runner which created not only one version of the director’s cut, but two versions, as Ridley Scott wasn’t happy with the original version, released without his approval, or even his second cut, requiring a “Final Cut” released with his special effects improved for the time period.
Probably one of the best to compare to the current condition is even still in the DC/WB wheelhouse. Superman II was originally filmed by Richard Donner, who was subsequently fired, and Richard Lester was brought in to finish the work. When the Donner cut was later released it was believed to be a better film for it’s more adult and serious take, with additional scenes that were left out due to Lester’s edit.
Why It Happens
I movie is a long process, the writer writes the script, and submits it to the production company/studio, which finds a director. Then the director, depending on his contract or status will want to make changes to the script to fit his vision of how he wants to present it. Through the whole process, the Director and the Producers usually fight over their vision and will have the writer meet their demands, or if the writer steps out of the process, a script doctor will correct the work as needed.
That being said though, all of this either works or doesn’t. Sometimes the production company/studio will literally take a step back and allow the director to do whatever they want, and then later freak out at the direction the director went.
This was made famous recently with the work done on “New Mutants” (You can read Lindsay’s “What You Need To Know” article on New Mutants Here). The studio told the director what they were looking for. The director told them he wanted to make a horror movie. The studio told him not to, and the director didn’t listen. Then came a huge fight between the two which pushed the movie back until Fox was purchased by Disney. Only now, as Disney distances themselves from the work of Fox will the movie be released, since it would be a waste of resources not to.
Usually though after all the work is done with the studio and the director, a test audience will watch and review the movie, to see what the general public may think of the work. From there drastic changes can be made on the film depending on how it tests. If those are needed, re-shoots, similar to those made famous by Henry Cavill’s mustache. From here though the director’s vision can be lost and thrown away by the studio for the need to please a large audience. It’s not always common, but all of this is a decision for economical reasons.
Then why do the directors cut eventually get released?
Money Baby, Follow The Money
It’s always about money. DVDs and Blu-rays are released regularly with additional features, with new commentary, as “Definitive Editions”, all for the sake of making more money for the studios. When an additional cut comes out, studio profits from the sales. When the conversation gets out that there is a director cut, and some fans say it’s either better, or closer to the intention of the creative people involved, if not for the penny pinchers at the studio, then flock to the stores to buy it, they are falling right into the plans of those penny pinchers.
I am not saying don’t buy the version if you love the film, and the people in it, by all means, support them, just be aware that it’s always just a huge profit game, and always will be. The Directors Cut isn’t being released cause it’s better, it’s because of the word of mouth campaigns started by the studios, all to make money.
Facebook Comments