It remains one of the greatest fan-driven movements in Hollywood history. Zack Snyder supporters, angered over the way Warner Bros. handled his Justice League movie, mobilized en masse for the better part of three years and lobbied for the release of what became known as The Snyder Cut. It was a legendary, four-hour version of Snyder’s third DC movie, one that would sufficiently conclude the story started in Man of Steel. And against all odds, the Snyder fans won! HBO Max agreed to release the full Snyder Cut of Justice League on the streaming service. I even wrote the official book about how they pulled this off. But Zack Snyder’s Justice League never really got a world premiere. Or a proper theatrical run. And while Snyder recently teased a big screen release, there comes with it a caveat.
Bringing the Snyder Cut of Justice League to theaters would present challenges. For one, it’s four hours long, so there’s only so many times you could screen it. Just ask Kevin Costner how run time affected his new Western, Horizon. Instead, Zack Snyder has been able to screen his Justice League at specific events such as the charitable Full Circle, held in Pasadena and involving screenings of the director’s three DC films. This week, Snyder got his fans lathered up when he teased Zack Snyder’s Justice League returning to “the big screen,” and asked them to “stay tuned for a date.”
‘ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE’ will release in theaters! “Stay tuned for a date”, teases Zack Snyder pic.twitter.com/NeLJWtGr9gJuly 2, 2024
Speculation ran rampant. Global theatrical release? Official world premiere? Finally, a chance for Snyder fans everywhere to see this magnum opus the way that Snyder intended… in IMAX?
Not exactly.
At the moment, it seems like Zack Snyder’s Justice League is going to play one night, Thursday, August 1, at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. It will be part of a special series dubbed “The Epic Worlds of Zack Snyder,” and will join 300, the Watchmen Director’s Cut, Dawn of the Dead and Army of the Dead in the programming. Information on the screening series can be found here.
And that’s great. Snyder should be celebrated, and this series covers a deep span of his filmography, going back to Dawn of the Dead (still riveting) and tracing it through to his Netflix movies. But the inclusion of Justice League – specifically the black-and-white Justice Is Gray version – puts this on more people’s radars.
That is, however, a crushing blow for Snyder fans around the globe who still are waiting for some way to see Justice League on the big screen near them. The wait continues, unless this news leads to a new breakthrough of distribution. Until then, there are plenty more upcoming DC movies on the calendar, though maybe not the ones that Snyder fans want to hear about. There remains a divide between those devoted to the SnyderVerse of DC stories, and the new universe that James Gunn is building with Creature Commandos, Superman, and Lanterns on HBO.
Stay tuned for more details on all the upcoming superhero content coming out of Hollywood.