Post by politicidal on Nov 20, 2017 19:25:06 GMT
This is in light of growing demands for a Zack Snyder cut since the two hour running time is a recurring complaint. And also, there seems some confusion over what can or can't be done about it.
HERE:
First things first: Zack Snyder is likely guaranteed the right to make a director’s cut by the DGA. It’s not clear if the right still applies once a film has already been released, but if it does, he finished 100% of principal photography, and the DGA Basic Agreement stipulates that “The Director’s right to prepare his or her Director’s Cut is absolute” under those conditions. Nobody (producers or otherwise) are allowed to influence or cut around the director for the purposes of this edit, and the window of completion is “Ten weeks, or one day of editing for each two days of scheduled photography, whichever is longer.” Under normal circumstances, that might not be the biggest window, but with Justice League‘s final cut coming in so late before release, we’re still in that window right now.
The only thing is, WB isn’t allowed to produce or distribute this cut. They are required to allow “a preview of the Director’s Cut of a theatrical motion picture before a public audience or, at the Producer’s choice, a private audience of no less than 100 persons (excluding relatives and employees),” but considering this is a version of the film they roundly rejected early into post-production, it’s unlikely to see this get a release.
Moreover, this isn’t merely a matter of a Zack Snyder cut of the movie, it’s an issue of Zack Snyder’s footage. There’s no such thing as a “Zack Snyder Cut” and there never will be. With both Batman v Superman, and Watchmen, and Sucker Punch, the longer versions were compiled prior to release – and at least the Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition was even considered for a theatrical release – but the situation with Justice League is entirely different.
Justice League was clearly drastically changed before it even went into production, meaning Snyder’s original vision was altered, then on top of that, the extensive reshoots were clearly devoted to turning Snyder’s footage into another movie. Given he didn’t get any reshoot time to service his own version of the movie, he’s missing the footage he needs, and the footage he does have is going to be missing completed effects. The DGA Basic Agreement guarantees time “to incorporate reasonable temp effects (and have additional cutting time necessary to do so) for the preview of your Director’s Cut,” but that doesn’t mean WB will open its wallet to complete those effects for an alternate version of the movie in home release. Even a limited theatrical run couldn’t justify that expense. This means that, if Zack Snyder is allowed to make a cut, it will be a Zack Snyder cut that has to rely on a lot of Whedon’s footage (which means some bad mustache masking and poor green screen issues will persist).
This is all assuming Snyder has any interest in returning. As mentioned above, he’s been uninvolved since his exit and appears to have little interest in returning, having not even seen the movie in any form since his exit. Having apologized to fans for not completing his story, Snyder appears resigned to leave things as they are, which is understandable. Without the resources to properly assemble a cut that aligns with his original vision, there’s very little incentive for him to return to the editor’s booth when he has other creative endeavors on his plate where he’ll have more creative freedom.
Having said that, there’s a possibility of some sort of “extended” cut including some more connective tissue, but it won’t be Snyder’s version and it won’t have Junkie XL’s music instead of Danny Elfman’s. Whedon has distanced himself from the movie, and his social media behavior suggests even he isn’t the biggest fan, so any such cut likely wouldn’t even earn the “Director’s Cut” label as it will merely have an editor insert some key deleted scenes and call it a day. Ultimately it makes more sense to just include those scenes as Blu-Ray extras and move on.
Finally, with all of the changes made by Joss Whedon and Warner Bros. resulting in a movie that only saw a marginal improvement in critical reception from Batman v Superman, ultimately resulting in an abysmal franchise-low $96 million opening weekend, Warner Bros. is in a lose-lose situation. Not only would releasing a superior cut of the movie not be financially viable, but it will also serve as definitive proof that Justice League’s failure lies squarely on the studio’s meddling – for the third time in a five-movie franchise. DC’s movie future is definitely up in the air following Justice League, but one thing that can fairly easily be ruled out is an official Zack Snyder cut. But don’t be surprised if some enterprising fans create a strong fan-edit community, we may yet see a variety or fan cuts attempting to bring Justice League more in-line with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, especially if deleted Zack Snyder scenes continue to leak.
screenrant.com/justice-league-no-zack-snyder-director-cut/2/
HERE:
First things first: Zack Snyder is likely guaranteed the right to make a director’s cut by the DGA. It’s not clear if the right still applies once a film has already been released, but if it does, he finished 100% of principal photography, and the DGA Basic Agreement stipulates that “The Director’s right to prepare his or her Director’s Cut is absolute” under those conditions. Nobody (producers or otherwise) are allowed to influence or cut around the director for the purposes of this edit, and the window of completion is “Ten weeks, or one day of editing for each two days of scheduled photography, whichever is longer.” Under normal circumstances, that might not be the biggest window, but with Justice League‘s final cut coming in so late before release, we’re still in that window right now.
The only thing is, WB isn’t allowed to produce or distribute this cut. They are required to allow “a preview of the Director’s Cut of a theatrical motion picture before a public audience or, at the Producer’s choice, a private audience of no less than 100 persons (excluding relatives and employees),” but considering this is a version of the film they roundly rejected early into post-production, it’s unlikely to see this get a release.
Moreover, this isn’t merely a matter of a Zack Snyder cut of the movie, it’s an issue of Zack Snyder’s footage. There’s no such thing as a “Zack Snyder Cut” and there never will be. With both Batman v Superman, and Watchmen, and Sucker Punch, the longer versions were compiled prior to release – and at least the Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition was even considered for a theatrical release – but the situation with Justice League is entirely different.
Justice League was clearly drastically changed before it even went into production, meaning Snyder’s original vision was altered, then on top of that, the extensive reshoots were clearly devoted to turning Snyder’s footage into another movie. Given he didn’t get any reshoot time to service his own version of the movie, he’s missing the footage he needs, and the footage he does have is going to be missing completed effects. The DGA Basic Agreement guarantees time “to incorporate reasonable temp effects (and have additional cutting time necessary to do so) for the preview of your Director’s Cut,” but that doesn’t mean WB will open its wallet to complete those effects for an alternate version of the movie in home release. Even a limited theatrical run couldn’t justify that expense. This means that, if Zack Snyder is allowed to make a cut, it will be a Zack Snyder cut that has to rely on a lot of Whedon’s footage (which means some bad mustache masking and poor green screen issues will persist).
This is all assuming Snyder has any interest in returning. As mentioned above, he’s been uninvolved since his exit and appears to have little interest in returning, having not even seen the movie in any form since his exit. Having apologized to fans for not completing his story, Snyder appears resigned to leave things as they are, which is understandable. Without the resources to properly assemble a cut that aligns with his original vision, there’s very little incentive for him to return to the editor’s booth when he has other creative endeavors on his plate where he’ll have more creative freedom.
Having said that, there’s a possibility of some sort of “extended” cut including some more connective tissue, but it won’t be Snyder’s version and it won’t have Junkie XL’s music instead of Danny Elfman’s. Whedon has distanced himself from the movie, and his social media behavior suggests even he isn’t the biggest fan, so any such cut likely wouldn’t even earn the “Director’s Cut” label as it will merely have an editor insert some key deleted scenes and call it a day. Ultimately it makes more sense to just include those scenes as Blu-Ray extras and move on.
Finally, with all of the changes made by Joss Whedon and Warner Bros. resulting in a movie that only saw a marginal improvement in critical reception from Batman v Superman, ultimately resulting in an abysmal franchise-low $96 million opening weekend, Warner Bros. is in a lose-lose situation. Not only would releasing a superior cut of the movie not be financially viable, but it will also serve as definitive proof that Justice League’s failure lies squarely on the studio’s meddling – for the third time in a five-movie franchise. DC’s movie future is definitely up in the air following Justice League, but one thing that can fairly easily be ruled out is an official Zack Snyder cut. But don’t be surprised if some enterprising fans create a strong fan-edit community, we may yet see a variety or fan cuts attempting to bring Justice League more in-line with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, especially if deleted Zack Snyder scenes continue to leak.
screenrant.com/justice-league-no-zack-snyder-director-cut/2/
