On March 18, [Zach Schneider's version of Justice League] will officially launch HBO Max.
For DC fans who are eager to wear it, it is finally the New Year.
But the mood of happiness is always echoed, and on March 9, there was a [tom and jerry] leak.
When HBO Max users clicked on [Tom and Jerry], the page played the unlisted "Zach Schneider's version of Justice League".
While Warner fixed the bug after user feedback, for DC fans, it was another disappointment for Warner.
The day before the launch of [Zach Schneider's version of justice league], the resources were leaked again, and warner can only be described as desperate.
According to netizens, the leak was caused by Warner's internal power struggle.
DC's competitor is no longer Marvel next door, but this old partner - Warner.
Warner's repeated tumultuous operations can only be described as bizarre.
01
2017 is a crucial year for the DCEU (DC Extended Universe).
Old rival Marvel began in 2008, and the Marvel universe planned by one hand is gradually moving to the climax.
In 2012, [Avengers] directly detonated theaters with 1.5 billion at the box office, and [Avengers 2] also had 1.4 billion in the account.
DC itself started a step late, losing one after another at the box office with Marvel, and the highest [Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice] did not break 1 billion.
Most importantly, it has not been able to connect a truly extended universe.
If DC can't have a decent work, it will never catch up with Marvel again.
Warner intends to use [Justice League] to raise its eyebrows.
But the global box office of 657 million was far from the estimated $1 billion, and even became the lowest box office in the DCEU.
Even if the box office is low, both the audience and DC fans have a very low evaluation.
The DCEU collapsed.
The reason for this is directly related to zadao's halfway exit.
His daughter's suicide caused a major blow to Za Dao, and he originally wanted to make up for his injuries through work, but he still failed to survive.
Warner brought in Joss Whedon, who had directed [The Avengers], to try to revive DC with Marvel's successful experience.
Whedon made a drastic adaptation of [Justice League], and Warner showed good faith and provided Whedon with up to $25 million in reshoot funds, but the result was not satisfactory.
But assuming that Za Dao can continue to direct, can it really save the disadvantage?
not necessarily.
According to Za, after the original script was shown to Warner, they were worried that it would be too dark, afraid of repeating the mistakes of [Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice], and were forced to revise it, which almost became another version.
During the filming, Za Dao and Warner were also full of contradictions.
Former Warner Chairman Kevin Tsujihara believes that "the duration should be kept at about two hours." "This is very different from Zadao's plan.
As far as the current 4-hour director's cut is concerned, what needs to be cancelled is not one or two funny scenes, but almost multiple character story lines.
Many netizens even speculated that Za Dao's early departure was directly related to The Conflict with Warner.
02
Zadao's struggle with Warner did not exist in the [Justice League], and the feud between them can be said to run through Zadao's DC career.
In 2006, Warner found Zach Schneider, who had only two works at the time (Dawn of the Living Dead and 300 Spartan Warriors), and handed over the Watchmen's guide to him.
This is not an easy job, and the Hugo Award-winning "Watchmen" comic has a very high status in the minds of fans.
However, for fans, Schneider, a small director from advertising, will show off plasma, and I am afraid it will be difficult to become a climate.
The [Watchmen] project was already in preparation in the early 1990s, and after several trips between film and television companies, it was never finalized.
British director Terry Gilliam, who has directed [The Python and the Holy Grail], once confessed that it was a comic that "could not be made into a movie", and the pressure that za director had to face could be imagined.
As a newcomer director, Director Za is well aware of his situation and expressed his loyalty in the interview, "trying to restore all the settings in the 1985 original book." ”
He hopes to make a superhero film full of complex thinking.
On the other hand, in order for ordinary audiences to understand, he made more preparations in the film.
He even invited Dave Gibson, the original artist of the Watchmen comics, and John Higgins, the original colorist, to make posters.
As Za was racking his brains to think about how to balance the average audience and fans, Warner stepped in.
It's still the clichéd question, "Is Dr. Manhattan too naked?" "", "The length of the film needs to be shortened".
Zadao didn't have much to say at the time, but he still expressed his dissatisfaction in an interview:
"I understand and respect Warner, and they want to make more money, of course, no problem, but I also want to say to them that they think it's too long or too difficult to understand, too violent or too explicit, but that's not the charm of this movie." 」
At the time of the release, the situation was familiar with that of [Justice League] 8 years later.
The general audience shouted "completely incomprehensible", even "boring"; fans crusaded that Za dao was not faithful to the original.
Warner's pot was held on the thankless bastard Zach Schneider.
Za dao has nowhere to send the fire, and can only hold his breath and cut his own director's cut version at home.
After releasing the 186-minute version, Za Dao did not get carried away and completed the final edited version of the 215 minutes.
This time, the director was finally able to raise his eyebrows, and the reputation of the fans reversed.
The length of these 53 minutes can be said to make a bad film go to the altar.
Even now, 2009's [Watchmen] is still one of the best superhero movies in the hearts of quite a few fans.
Unfortunately, there is no chance to re-release it.
Except for [Watchmen], almost all of the films that Za director and Warner have collaborated on have come out of the director's cut version.
Without exception, the word of mouth of the guide cut version is better than the original version.
It is also for this reason that when seeing the inconspicuous [Justice League], fans are speculating that there will be a guide cutout.
The mighty [Justice League] director's cut version of the petition campaign kicked off.
03
On November 17, 2017, [Justice League] was released.
A few days after the release, DC fans sent a petition letter to Warner.
Fans demanded that Warner release the original version of Zach Schneider's Justice League, and more than 170,000 people signed the petition letter.
However, whether the edited version of Za Dao is real is still a question, and fans have tried to verify it through various channels.
It is reported that before Joss Whedon took over the [Justice League] project, Za Director had given him a rough cut version with a small number of special effects and soundtrack.
The news gave fans hope to continue.
At this time, #Release the hashtag of The Snyder Cut#, which was widely disseminated on major social media.
In addition to fans, "Steppenwolf" actor Silan Heinzs and other staff involved in the [Justice League] filming have all voiced petitions.
The clamor for petitions rose above all, and a Chinese fan, Fiona Zheng, created a new website called For Snyder Cut.
On the front page of the website is a quote from the Bible: "All God, all heaven, all hell, are in your body." ”（All the Gods, All the heavens, All the hells are within you.）
The URL is forsnydercut.com, interested friends can search for it
The website has compiled a lot of information about the campaign timeline, media comments, fan messages, etc., and it has also become a gathering place for petition fans.
At the same time as the fans petitioned, Za Dao also released several deleted stills with labels on various anniversaries, which gave fans a lot of confidence.
As the petition continues to ferment, its influence has spread across the globe.
Gu Tianle also spoke out on Weibo, looking forward to seeing the [Justice League] guide cut version.
On May 17, 2018, For Snyder Cut initiator Fiona Zheng appealed to fans around the world to tweet at the same time with the hashtag #Release The Snyder Cut# to commemorate the six months since the petition campaign took place.
More than 11,000 tweets responded to her appeal.
In addition, there are fans who come to Warner's door to pull up banners in protest.
Jason Momma, the actor of "Aquaman", is also constantly supporting the fan petition movement, and his remarks have almost confirmed the existence of the guide cut.
Jason Momma said the Zadder cut [Justice League] was better than the release version
At the end of March 2019, Za spoke at his directorial clip fundraising event, mentioning the film's editing.
He confirmed the existence of the guide cut, and that it only needed "some CG tweaks" to be 214 minutes long, and the main problem now was convincing Warner.
After the confirmation of the guide, the movement gradually escalated.
Many fans spontaneously bought billboards.
Someone spent $1,170 to get a tagged plane fly over San Diego For two hours.
You can even see an ad for Snyder Cut on a billboard in Times Square.
No one can stop the fanaticism of the fans.
On December 4, 2019, Za dao posted a photo on social media, officially confirming the existence of the director's cut version.
Several film boxes with "ZS JL Directors Cut" with the words "Is it real?" on the pictures read " Does it exist? Of course it does" (is it true? Does it exist? Of course)
The 3-year #Release The Snyder Cut# movement came to an end at this time, and Zadao's negotiations with Warner reached the final stage.
In the end, Za Dao did not take anything in exchange for the re-auction cost of a total budget of 70 million US dollars.
He will fulfill this wish of himself and his fans wholeheartedly.
On May 21, 2020, Warner's streaming HBO Max announced that the [Justice League] director's cut will be available in 2021.
On January 29, 2021, [Zach Schneider's version of Justice League] released a teaser poster announcing that it would land on HBO Max on March 18.
Tomorrow, [Zach Schneider's version of Justice League] is officially launched.
Warner may have thought the petition campaign was finally coming to an end.
A new wave of petitions has begun to jump to the occasion, and the next step will be the resurrection of [Justice League 2].
DCEU, to be continued...