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OK since now there's apparently a black-and-white version of Zack Snyder's JUSTICE LEAGUE here's a thread detailing the extremely weird changes to this extremely weird movie, with all the weird twists and contradictions along the way. This thread might be updated over time. https://twitter.com/ZackSnyder/status/1328727811595517953
2017 - Zack Snyder and his cinematographer Fabian Wagner state that the film was shot in and for the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Snyder cites his enjoyment of shooting boxier IMAX stuff for Batman v. Superman as the reason for 1.85:1, Wagner states the film was storyboarded for 1.85:1.
2017 - Snyder leaves (or is fired from) the film and Joss Whedon reshoots a large percentage of it. Composer Tom Holkenborg is replaced by Danny Elfman. The change in visual quality is noticeable and bad. The music, however, is very good. The ratio is kept to 1.85:1.
2017-2019 - The "Whedon Cut" is released. Disappointed fans petition for a "Snyder Cut" based on rumours that Snyder shot all the footage to assemble a cut of his film. Snyder confirms this with a photo of some 35mm film cans labelled "director's cut".
Note that the film cans indicate a total running time of "214" — three hours and thirty-four minutes.
2019 - Tom Holkenborg indicates that his score for JUSTICE LEAGUE was finished in 2017, before he was replaced by Elfman.
May 2020 - It's announced that Snyder has been giving funding to release his cut of the film to be released on HBO Max in 2021. Initial reports are that all that's required is new effects, some re-editing, and... scoring?... at about a $20-30 million budget.
May 2020 - Snyder confirms that he has changed the aspect ratio of JUSTICE LEAGUE from 1.85:1 to 1.66:1.
July 2020 - Snyder confirms that he has changed the aspect ratio of JUSTICE LEAGUE from 1.66:1 to 1.43:1 (IMAX ratio). Contra Wagner's statement of storyboarding in 1.85:1, he says it was always intended to be shown in 1.43:1, and that the Whedon cut was "fucked up by the crop".
In the same interview Snyder claims he shot it "on the day" in 1.33:1, but always intending 1.43:1. Snyder does an on-the-spot doodle to demonstrate how cropping removes information from the frame, but he does NOT share one of his and Wagner's original storyboards. Fun doodle.
Note on the above: some film news outlets reported credulously on this claim and accused Joss Whedon of changing the aspect ratio to 1.85:1, without mention of Snyder and Wagner's 2017 interviews or consideration that a studio would be loathe to release a tentpole in 1.43:1.
July 2020 - Snyder states that the film will be significantly longer than 214 minutes, indicating that the existence of a "director's cut" that he announced with that photo back in December 2019 may not have been a complete cut.
Aug 2020 - Snyder announces that the film is no longer a self-contained film, but a 4-part, miniseries with a 4-hour runtime.
Aug 2020 - A new trailer confirms Snyder has changed the aspect ratio of JUSTICE LEAGUE from 1.43:1 to 1.33:1. The trailer footage includes the full negative with rounded corners. Films are rarely meant to display those rounded corners; they're usually cropped out when exhibited.
Sept 2020 - Reports of an additional week of shooting done with most of the principle cast, ballooning the budget from $20-30 mil to $70 million. Just before these reports, Henry Cavill says he is NOT involved, and that the footage is "all stuff that's already been done".
Sept 2020 - Tom Holkenborg indicates that he is composing new music for the Snyder Cut. He shares a preview of this material.
https://twitter.com/RTSnyderCut/status/1304841489000869890
https://twitter.com/RTSnyderCut/status/1304841489000869890
Oct 2020 - Reports come out that Jared Leto is reprising his role as The Joker from SUICIDE SQUAD (2016) during the reshoots. The Hollywood Reporter uses a terrible joke in the story's lede. In November, Snyder says the scene was written in 2017, but couldn't be shot.
Nov 2020 - In the same interview, Snyder claims that the cut is structured in six chapters and an epilogue. There are no indications how this structure will be handled in the film's four-part presentation on HBOMax.
Nov 2020 - A black & white version of the trailer is released, with a few new shots here and there. Snyder states that an IMAX (1.43:1) B&W version is his ideal cut, one that he has "lived with for two years". The trailer aspect ratio is 1.33:1 and has rounded corners.
Nov 2020 - Snyder announces his cut of JUSTICE LEAGUE is locked, that it contains about 2.5 hours of footage not in the Whedon cut, and that only 4 minutes of it are from the new 2020 shoots. The reasons for the reported $70m budget for the Snyder Cut become less clear.
At this point, it's still plausible that the effects for 2.5 hours of blockbuster filmmaking could cost $70 million, but that doesn't yet explain the initial reports of $20-30 million and the apparent ballooning of later ones.
Nov 2020 - Snyder states that he made the "director's cut" (as seen in his photo of film cans) in 2017 to show the studio, but it was made after or alongside "[his] cut" (the basis of the HBO Max Snyder Cut), which was four hours. Furthermore...
![Nov 2020 - Snyder states that he made the "director's cut" (as seen in his photo of film cans) in 2017 to show the studio, but it was made after or alongside "[his] cut" (the basis of the HBO Max Snyder Cut), which was four hours. Furthermore...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Endmi2NVQAEIoEg.png "Nov 2020 - Snyder states that he made the \"director's cut\" (as seen in his photo of film cans) in 2017 to show the studio, but it was made after or alongside \"[his] cut\" (the basis of the HBO Max Snyder Cut), which was four hours. Furthermore...")
...according to Snyder, the "director's cut" was made because "the mandate was 'Make the movie two hours long'. I cannot show them a four hour version of the movie." The "director's cut" was 3 hours 34 minutes long.
Dec 2020 - [I have to broaden the scope of the thread.] Snyder announces a BATMAN V SUPERMAN release that includes IMAX ratio (1.43:1), unseen since 2016. Note that only some BvS scenes were shot+shown in the ratio. Unclear if he's changing the whole film or only those scenes.
![Dec 2020 - [I have to broaden the scope of the thread.] Snyder announces a BATMAN V SUPERMAN release that includes IMAX ratio (1.43:1), unseen since 2016. Note that only some BvS scenes were shot+shown in the ratio. Unclear if he's changing the whole film or only those scenes.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpPeaZoU8AAAPgZ.jpg "Dec 2020 - [I have to broaden the scope of the thread.] Snyder announces a BATMAN V SUPERMAN release that includes IMAX ratio (1.43:1), unseen since 2016. Note that only some BvS scenes were shot+shown in the ratio. Unclear if he's changing the whole film or only those scenes.")
![Dec 2020 - [I have to broaden the scope of the thread.] Snyder announces a BATMAN V SUPERMAN release that includes IMAX ratio (1.43:1), unseen since 2016. Note that only some BvS scenes were shot+shown in the ratio. Unclear if he's changing the whole film or only those scenes.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpPeaZ8UcAAdgqG.jpg "Dec 2020 - [I have to broaden the scope of the thread.] Snyder announces a BATMAN V SUPERMAN release that includes IMAX ratio (1.43:1), unseen since 2016. Note that only some BvS scenes were shot+shown in the ratio. Unclear if he's changing the whole film or only those scenes.")
If you recall, in 2017 Snyder said only some BvS scenes were filmed for 1.43:1. The reference was made while he explained the choice to film JUSTICE LEAGUE in 1.85:1 and not 2.35:1. Whether the AR will switch mid-film or now be 1.43:1 throughout remains to be seen.
Dec 2020 - Snyder posts a photo during JUSTICE LEAGUE's sound mix showing it in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. It's unlikely the film would reach this stage of post production with a non-final ratio, so it seems JUSTICE LEAGUE will not be in an IMAX ratio (1.43:1) as Snyder has stated.
Dec 2020 - Snyder posts the first "finished" clip of his version. The aspect ratio is 1.43:1 — so either 1) the "sound mix" image is more skewed than it seemed (my bad) 2) the ratio wasn't final, or 3) different ratios are being prepared (for theatres v streaming?) Sharp corners.
Jan 2021 - Snyder tells a fan on Vero that his version of JUSTICE LEAGUE is no longer a 4-part miniseries, but a single self-contained 4-hour film.
This thread unequivocally endorses the creation and release of this list. #ReleaseTheSnyderList
Feb 2021 - Snyder posts a teaser with an aspect ratio of 1.34:1, further suggesting that two separate aspect ratios (1.33:1/1.34:1 and 1.43:1) have been prepared for his JUSTICE LEAGUE cut. https://twitter.com/ZackSnyder/status/1359913640212631555
Some readers of this thread are assuming that if there's only 4 min of reshoots, most of the $70 mil must have been pocketed or something. Bear in mind that 2.5 hours of blockbuster effects are expensive, and we don't know that those initial $30 mil budget reports were accurate.
Feb 2021 - (Warning: flashing lights in video.) A new trailer is released in 1.33:1. The rounded corners are back (and subtler) in some shots. In one shot of Wonder Woman, the presence of the rounded corners momentarily toggles frame by frame. View video in fullscreen.
