Snyder Cut from “Justice League” is a bet for Warner Bros.

The director’s four-hour “Justice League” cut came on HBO’s Max Thursday.

Assembled from hours of unused filming and cut along with newly filmed scenes, Snyder Cut is an anomaly in the entertainment industry. Led by a fan-driven social campaign for years, Zack Snyder had a second chance to create his own version of the “Justice League.”

WarnerMedia, owned by AT&T, saw the hot crusade for the official cut of the film by Snyder as a way to reassure ardent fans and cover its HBO Max streaming service with exclusive content.

However, the risk is that the “Justice League” may not repay the dividends WarnerMedia needs. The film organizes sequels that DC fans may never see, meaning even if it manages to attract subscribers for March, there is no promise of new DC-related content on the horizon for the streaming service to keep new subscribers around.

Initial estimates set the price for Snyder’s second takeover at $ 20 million to $ 30 million, as many of the computer-generated images were unfinished. However, more recent estimates suggest that WarnerMedia could have exceeded $ 70 million or more on the project, as Snyder brought back more actors to film new material. It is unclear whether this figure includes marketing expenses.

WarnerMedia declined to comment on the project’s financial terms.

The cost could be justified if WarnerMedia uses the film to gain subscribers and encourages enough current subscribers to stay with the service, said Dan Rayburn, media and streaming analyst.

What can help us is that HBO Max has several high-profile versions coming to its platform in March and early April. On March 31, “Godzilla v. Kong” arrives in service, and on April 16, “Mortal Kombat” will be released. Everyone will spend about a month on HBO Max before heading to videos on demand for a rental fee.

This strategy of having a steady, steady stream of new content can help retain subscribers.

And then there are the fans. While Snyder and DC Films president Walter Hamada both said that this updated “Justice League” will not generate spinoffs or automatically create a sequel, the film allows Warner Bros. to regain a good will.

“I definitely think the fans will be happy,” said Erik Davis, Fandango’s managing editor.

Davis, who was able to see the new “Justice League” before its release on HBO Max, said Snyder Cut is a “much better version of the film.”

Snyder Cut virtually removes co-writer and co-director Joss Whedon from the film. Whedon was brought on board after directors opposed Snyder’s initial cut of the film and took it over when Snyder left the project after his daughter’s death.

Whedon reduced Snyder’s 214-minute reduction and soaked it in moments of ease, which Warner Bros. he wanted to imitate the style of comedy that was successful in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Because Whedon’s version changed so much of Snyder’s work, fans asked to see the Justice League director’s cut, believing it to be the purest version of the film. In May 2020, WarnerMedia granted them that wish and invested in bringing Snyder back to complete it.

While fans will be thrilled to finally have Snyder cut, there is a major error in Warner Bros. ‘You are planning to release this movie.

When Snyder developed the “Justice League” more than five years ago, the DC Expanded Universe was expected to continue to expand with this distribution in the same way that MCUs had. Solo films would be built together into team films. Ben Affleck was supposed to have his own independent film, and Snyder was already talking about a sequel to “Justice League.”

However, this plan is completely different in 2021. All the cameos and settings in Snyder’s film will probably never be seen by DC fans.

Affleck may be attached to the upcoming “Flash” movie, but he’s not sure if he’ll turn the hood on any DC project after that. Not to mention, Warner Bros. has already continued with a new Batman movie with Robert Pattinson, which does not connect to any of the previous films released by the studio.

As for Superman, Henry Cavill is still attached to the role, but it is not clear when and where the character will appear next.

And Ray Fisher, who played the role of Cyborg, has a divided relationship with the studio. The actor accused Whedon of harassment on set and an investigation was conducted. Fisher also had harsh things to say about Hamada, the head of DC, whom he said helped with Whedon’s actions.

As such, Fisher has said he will not participate in any films associated with Hamada. So Warner Bros. he should reform the role if he wants to get Cyborg back on his feet for a team movie.

Warner Bros. ‘The decision to fund and launch this new’ Justice League ‘may reassure fans, but it does nothing to promote the film’s cinematic universe.

Disney, which owns Marvel, has used its Disney + streaming service to expand its theatrical releases. Shows such as “WandaVision”, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Loki” all link directly to the MCU and must be watched to understand all the nuances of future feature films.

Snyder Cut doesn’t do that. It exists in a vacuum.

As for the hope that fans will go to HBO Max to see the movie, increasing the number of subscribers, what matters is the longevity of their interest.

“Is it a good deal? Maybe.” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com. “As a single version, the film may currently increase subscriptions to HBO Max, but the streams are the most powerful, with episodic and weekly content that keeps regular consumers from going back to binge after binge.”

Robbins mentioned that “Justice League” is a niche film, in the sense that the demographics of its viewing distort young people and men. So while it will likely appeal to DC fans, it may not do much to move the subscription subscription needle everywhere, unless they are attracted to other HBO Max content.

“Just the ‘Justice League’ may not be the answer to the company’s future needs, especially since the DC brand has already begun to move in other directions creatively, but it could be successful as a symbol for Valentine for fans,” he said. Robbins.

AT&T seems to be confident in HBO Max. The company expanded its subscriber projections last week to a range of 120 to 150 million for HBO Max and HBO by the end of 2025.

In October 2019, the company set a goal of hitting 50 million U.S. subscribers by 2025, a relatively low bar, given that HBO’s premium cable channel already had about 33 million subscribers before the service launched. streaming.

However, there seems to be a missed opportunity in the launch of “Justice League” before HBO Max expands globally. The platform is set to launch in approximately 60 markets outside the US this year and will launch a lower-cost version, with advertising in June. The Justice League earned the most international ticket sales of $ 658 million. It rose just $ 230 million at the US box office.

WarnerMedia could easily have used the “Justice League” as bait for international launches. Instead, the film, which will be broadcast in high definition, is likely to be a target of choice for international digital pirates.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes.