Justice League - restarting the thread 1 1

[Bosco685]

1 hour ago, Reader said:

Looking forward to it. Didn’t you or I start a Directors Cut thread years ago? Listing good versions and differences? My old account is dead but I’m going search for it.

That would be a great topic to refresh.

[Bosco685]

Kevin Smith and a few other sites have pieced together what is believed to be the Zack Snyder movie direction versus what was released.

What Zack Snyder Originally Envisioned For The Film?

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Zack Snyder originally had an end credits stinger of the Green Lanterns Tomar-Re and Kilowog visiting Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne to warn of Darkseid's approach. Several scenes shown in trailers and TV Spots that were not included in the film. Scenes shown in these same trailers and TV Spots that have the same footage but different dialogue. 

As reported by The Wrap a few days ago, between Zack Snyder, Joss Whedon and Warner Bros. execs, there were a lot of different chefs stirring the pot behind the scenes of Justice League's production. However, new info via Reddit and a live taping of Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman podcast [skip to the 1:57:48 mark] seem to corroborate the Reddit AMA of a purported VFX technician that worked on Justice League, along with interviews from the film's actors about scenes that were left on the cutting room floor (an audience member during the taping of Smith's podcast says she saw an early, audience test screening that matches up with what follows). 

 

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Steppenwolf's Ultimate Fate And His Motivation Revealed?

It seems uniting the Mother Boxes to create the Unity allows for Steppenwolf to communicate with his dead mother and unleash a power strong enough to allow Steppenwolf to overthrow his uncle as ruler of Apokolips.  That's apparently why Steppenwolf refers to the Mother Box as just simply "mother" in a few scenes. Apparently his original, full line in the TV spot that first revealed his voice is, "No protectors here. No Lanterns. This world will fall. You will be free, mother."

 

Kevin Smith revealing that Steppenwolf's final boom tube at the end of Justice League placed him before Darkseid, who summarily killed him for his failure. 

 

Flashback Scene To Steppenwolf's Battle Against The Greek Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, Man And Green Lanterns Originally Longer

scene featuring the Greek Pantheon, Amazons, Atlanteans, Man and even a Green Lantern (possibly 2) fighting against Steppenwolf and his Parademons was originally much longer and actually included dialogue.  Robin Wright's Antiope was also set to be included in this extended scene.  Wright's even credited as appearing in the film.  It seems Whedon, either by his own choice or at the behest of one of the WB execs, cut this scene way down and transformed it into a wordless flashback that's narrated.  

 

Cyborg's Accident Was Going To Be Shown?

Karen Bryson was originally cast to play Cyborg's mother. Speaking to GameSpot, Fisher hinted at cut scenes featuring Cyborg's human days but never explicitly revealed specifics.  "There were some things that you'll probably end up seeing later on, that didn't make it into this version of the film...There's a scene with Victor Stone, when he still was Victor Stone, and his mother, that was really special to shoot...You're shooting and testing, and when you're putting it together, you're seeing how cohesive you can make the story.  Ultimately this is a team story, and, while there is some Cyborg material that we don't see here, I'm just happy that my teammates get to shine as well." 

 

Aquaman's Time In Atlantis A Bit Longer

Momoa previously spoke on these deleted scenes to GameSpot, stating, "There's a place where [Aquaman] goes down to, and it got cut out of the movie.  He knows spots where he can go and he can see these statues, the remnants of [Atlantis]. There's Vulko--obviously we'll have way more scenes with Vulko, Willem Dafoe--in [the 2018 standalone] Aquaman. There just wasn't enough time in this movie." Momoa goes on to reveal that Vulko is his connection to Atlantis and that he grew up hearing tales from Vulko that he would be welcomed in Atlantis as the rightful king. 

 

Justice League Was Going To Specifically Deal With Batman Killing Criminals In Dawn of Justice

A big part of Batman's arc was going to be his belief that he could only find atonement for his actions by dying and Wonder Woman's attempt to dissuade him of that notion.  That scene during the attack where Aquaman and Wonder Woman save Bruce was meant to be a cap on Batman finally accepting that he needs to atone by fighting, not dying for no true purpose.

Batman's Nightmare In Dawn of Justice Was Going To Be Further Explained

The nightmare Bruce Wayne had in the Batcave just before The Flash's arrival from the future was going to be explicitly referenced in Justice League.  It seems the conclusion Batman reaches after learning about Steppenwolf's ability to convert the dead into Parademons was that Steppenwolf must have raised Superman from the dead in his apocalyptic glimpse of the future and that's why he fights for the side of Apokolips. Batman's solution? He decides they need to raise Superman from the dead before Steppenwolf can, thus averting the nightmare future from ever coming to pass.

 

Kevin Costner's Pa Kent Was Going To Be The Final Key To Returning Superman To Normal

Part of Superman's return to the Kent farm after being resurrected would have included another vision of Pa Kent, similar to the one he had in Dawn of Justice. Like that hallucination, Costner's Jonathan Kent would have dispensed valuable advice to his son, serving as the final push he needed to regain his sense of self and suit back up as the Man of Steel.

 

Superman Stops In The Batcave To Get His Suit From Alfred

Clark makes a quick pit stop in the Batcave to pick up his costume from Alfred.  That's the meeting that's taking place in the San Diego Comic-Con trailer where Alfred states, "He said you'd come.  Now lets hope you're not too late."

 

Deathstroke Originally Shows Up In The Middle Of The Film And Breaks Lex Out Of Arkham

Lex Luthor's escape from Arkham was actually depicted in the middle of the film.  Joe Manganello's Deathstroke busts him out and they split up and go there separate ways, with Slade drawing the GCPD away from Lex. 

 

Cyborg Dies Attempting To Separate The Mother Boxes

According to the report, Cyborg's initial attempt to separate the Mother Boxes results in him hearing Heggra's voice and him seeing the same nightmarish vision that Bruce glimpsed in Batman v Superman.  While distracted by this, Steppenwolf grabs him and rips Cyborg in half instead of just tearing a leg off as he does in the film.  Essentially dead, Batman has Victor's remains taken to the Batcave as he believes there may be a way to restart Cyborg's robotic side. How that ending would've played into Cyborg's solo film is anyone's guess, although it's possible seeds were being sown for Grid's emergence.

 

Film Ends With Lois Revealing Clark Is Superman To Perry White

It seems the film's final Superman scene wasn't going to show Clark walking the streets of Metropolis, he was going to be standing in Perry White's office where Lois introduces him as Clark Kent a.k.a Superman.  The scene was to imply that Perry was going to be brought in to help explain why Clark was declared dead and then returned exactly at the same time that Superman did the same.

Here are the details outlined by REDDIT details and Kevin Smith hearing from sources, including a woman that was part of the early cut screening.

REDDIT: Kevin Smith Discusses the JL deleted scenes (reveals new ones)

Shortened version of the Kevin Smith review of all the cut and changed scenes for Justice League.

 

If this is all accurate, then this movie wasn't 'unwatchable' as originally rumored. It actually wrapped everything together from the other movies, including the Knightmare/Nightmare Scene and how Clark Kent would explain his whereabouts in the end to people at the Daily Planet. They just couldn't fit all this into a meager 2 hour window.

What a shame!

Edited December 3, 2017 by Bosco685

[jsilverjanet]

i agree a real shame

[Bosco685]

3 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said:

i agree a real shame

Tomar-Re and Kiliwog meeting with Batman to warn him of Darkseid?! Along with everything else we just learned.

Here's $20. I want to see that movie right now.

[Bosco685]

‘Justice League’ crosses the $500 million box office milestone

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Justice League hit a box office milestone this week. According to Forbes, the Zack Snyder superhero movie crossed $500 million on Tuesday. Forbes estimates that it’s at about $505 million as of today as it heads into its third weekend at the box office.

 

Justice League got off to a slow start, with DC Films’ lowest opening yet. Right now the big question is whether or not it will finish as the lowest grossing DC Films movie ever. To avoid that label, it will need to make more than Man of Steel’s $668 million.

 

I think Justice League has about two more weeks to make most of the money it’s going to make. On Thursday, December 14th, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will hit theaters and own the box office.

Ugh!

[media_junkie]

1 hour ago, Bosco685 said:

Kevin Smith and a few other sites have pieced together what is believed to be the Zack Snyder movie direction versus what was released.

What Zack Snyder Originally Envisioned For The Film?

 

Here are the details outlined by REDDIT details and Kevin Smith hearing from sources, including a woman that was part of the early cut screening.

REDDIT: Kevin Smith Discusses the JL deleted scenes (reveals new ones)

Justice League question and answers comes up at 1:56:00

If this is all accurate, then this movie wasn't 'unwatchable' as originally rumored. It actually wrapped everything together from the other movies, including the Knightmare/Nightmare Scene and how Clark Kent would explain his whereabouts in the end to people at the Daily Planet. They just couldn't fit all this into a meager 2 hour window.

What a shame!

Sounds like a much better movie than what we actully got.  What a crying shame.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Let's face it as it was the domestic audience that did Justice League in, and not the international audience. Somehow DC has to turn the American audience back on to it's movie version of Batman/Superman characters, as clearly the domestic audience is not excited about them like the international audiences.

‘Coco’ to Easily Top Box Office as ‘Justice League’ Battles ‘Wonder’ for Second Place.

http://variety.com/2017/film/box-office/box-office-coco-wonder-justice-league-1202628168/

Disney-Pixar’s “Coco” will easily win the first December weekend in the $23 million range in its second frame at 3,987 North American locations, early estimates showed Friday.

The third weekend of Warner Bros.-DC Entertainment’s “Justice League” and the second session of Lionsgate’s “Wonder” are on a tight battle for second with about $15 million each. The fifth weekend of Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” will finish fourth with about $10 million, followed by the fourth weekend of Paramount’s “Daddy’s Home 2” with about $8 million and the fourth weekend of Fox’s “Murder on the Orient Express” with about $7 million.

The major studios are relying on holdover business this weekend and next before the Dec. 15 launch of Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

I am also surprised with the legs Wonder has got. 

Edited December 2, 2017 by ComicConnoisseur

[Bosco685]

Man, they went all-in when it came to making toys from this movie. The 1:10 scale Batmobile is huge.

 

[jsilverjanet]

4 hours ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Let's face it as it was the domestic audience that did Justice League in, and not the international audience. Somehow DC has to turn the American audience back on to it's movie version of Batman/Superman characters, as clearly the domestic audience is not excited about them like the international audiences.

‘Coco’ to Easily Top Box Office as ‘Justice League’ Battles ‘Wonder’ for Second Place.

http://variety.com/2017/film/box-office/box-office-coco-wonder-justice-league-1202628168/

Disney-Pixar’s “Coco” will easily win the first December weekend in the $23 million range in its second frame at 3,987 North American locations, early estimates showed Friday.

The third weekend of Warner Bros.-DC Entertainment’s “Justice League” and the second session of Lionsgate’s “Wonder” are on a tight battle for second with about $15 million each. The fifth weekend of Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” will finish fourth with about $10 million, followed by the fourth weekend of Paramount’s “Daddy’s Home 2” with about $8 million and the fourth weekend of Fox’s “Murder on the Orient Express” with about $7 million.

The major studios are relying on holdover business this weekend and next before the Dec. 15 launch of Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

I am also surprised with the legs Wonder has got. 

It’s Ben Afflecks fault  

[fastballspecial]

I thought they made a good effort. But for that budget it should have been better. Maybe they will get batman right later. The cgi blunders were lame but flash and superman made me excuse alot of it.

[AnthonyTheAbyss]

7 minutes ago, fastballspecial said:

I thought they made a good effort. But for that budget it should have been better. Maybe they will get batman right later. The cgi blunders were lame but flash and superman made me excuse alot of it.

I wonder how JL will impact the Aquaman movie.  The general consensus was exactly what you stated...Flash and Superman stood out.  Nothing much about Aquaman.

 

The Aquaman movie is a "must win" for DC.

[NewEnglandGothic]

5 hours ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

I am also surprised with the legs Wonder has got. 

Summer's been over for months and based on the critical drubbing JL took, audiences didn't want another "underachieving" (based on box-office/critical reactions) popcorn movie.  Praised ones like Thor and probably The Last Jedi can ride easier on "word-of-mouth."

I think Wonder Woman would have cleaned up during this time period, maybe not as much as it did this summer, but reasonably as good.

Audiences are looking for more heart-warming or dramatic fare as they pass through the holidays.  These days are probably rough on a lot of folks.  I imagine they rely on something they can identify with more, with inspirational direction than a guy "that dresses up as a flying rodent" (Batman Forever) fighting bad CG.

There are exceptions to this rule as well, for example during the Christmas of '96 we got a 'slasher' present with "Scream," that showed legs that kept it in theaters to the next summer.

[▫️]

Still haven't seen JL but hopefully soon. I'm more excited to see Reeves solo Batman reboot though. Loved his Apes trilogy. Also I'm more of a solo Batman fan and never read a Justice League comic in my life. 

It's really a shame that DC is not doing as well as Marvel since I prefer the darker tones without a lot of jokes aimed at kids. And Snyder gave us 300 and Watchmen and I wouldn't have changed anything in those movies. Man of Steel has its critics but I thought it was great. DC did not have to try to create their own universe, they were doing fine up until then. They should have concentrated on getting quality writers/directors like Nolan to get in there and do their thing without having to worry about what others were doing for continuity. 

[PunisherPunisherPunisher]

Justice League Rebirth Variant thread

I enjoyed the movie, every time I seen Wonder Woman my eyes lit up

[Batman]

March last year:

• Batfleck was good,
• Superman nearly destroyed the franchise,
• Everyone hated Zack Synder.

Now:

• Superman "owned it",
• Batfleck needs to go,
• People want to see more Zack Synder for a better cut...

[jsilverjanet]

It’s interesting. All the people who complained last time are now upset that WB listened to their complaints - make it shorter, more accessible more Disney 

part of wants to blame Snyder for not fighting harder for his ultimate cut for BVS to begin with. He and Whedon should have fought harder to keep the movie JL closer to the original idea

granted Snyder and his budget are at fault as well for not keeping costs down to make his version of the movie 

[jsilverjanet]

The minute WB decided that this was a one part movie it, Snyder should have walked away. That removed any connection to the set ups he created in BVS

[Bosco685]

17 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said:

It’s interesting. All the people who complained last time are now upset that WB listened to their complaints - make it shorter, more accessible more Disney 

part of wants to blame Snyder for not fighting harder for his ultimate cut for BVS to begin with. He and Whedon should have fought harder to keep the movie JL closer to the original idea

granted Snyder and his budget are at fault as well for not keeping costs down to make his version of the movie 

 

16 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said:

The minute WB decided that this was a one part movie it, Snyder should have walked away. That removed any connection to the set ups he created in BVS

Now with all we know of where this was going, and the scenes included throughout, I do have to agree. Snyder should have put his foot down that even though there was a portion of the movie market wanting gleeful action where even the kids could enjoy it, stick to the plan as this would be different from the norm yet well worth the ride in the end. The entire story and all the events previously would come together and make sense.

I have to agree on the budget thing as well. I think this is a big weakness with Snyder. Finding out he fully developed with all the CGI a four-hour Batman v Superman before peeling it back to what they felt should be released had to be a massive expense compared to what it should have been. So then you are fighting to justify the investment with as big a box office run as you can hope for. Better he had packaged it up where some of his ideas were in BvS, some were included in JL1, and then the wrap-up would be JL2.

But also finding out the top two WB execs were meddling in the development to get their bonuses before the company was acquired sure doesn't allow for creative control by the director. Sad!

[Bosco685]

Deadline is stating Justice League needs to hit $700M to break even.

BOX OFFICE Late Saturday Update

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Warner Bros.’ Justice League is looking at $15.8M right now in its third weekend, down a hard 61%. At $196.5M, it’s 7% ahead of where Warner Bros. Thanksgiving hit Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them was a year ago, and that pic ended its run at $234M, which if Justice League maintains that rate, will end its stateside run at around $250M. The pic only shed 231 locations this weekend. Through last weekend, overseas stands at $311M. It’s obviously past the $500M worldwide, but it hasn’t profited yet. $700M is really the safe, magic number which will trigger ancillaries to a break-even point.

At least Justice League isn't giving up an excessive amount of screens so far.

[NewEnglandGothic]

2 hours ago, Batman said:

March last year:

• Batfleck was good,
• Superman nearly destroyed the franchise,
• Everyone hated Zack Synder.

Now:

• Superman "owned it",
• Batfleck needs to go,
• People want to see more Zack Synder for a better cut...

I think it’s amazing no one has noticed that stuff like this has always happened with funny book movies.

Almost 40 years ago, Donner was replaced by Richard Lester, after he shot 2/3’s of “Superman II.”

If the internet existed back then, that movie would have been ripped-apart by bloggers. But, you know what, I never knew how troubled that production was until the Donner Cut was announced. To this day I still prefer the Theatrical Cut even, because I’m so used to it while growing up.

Maybe the internet tells us a little too much on these productions and we should just dial it down a tad. Just disregard the disregardable as one would say.

If it was 1980, we would be calling Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder scabs for going back into production after Donner was ousted. Even Gene Hackman had the scruples not to return to shooting after. We would be taking digs on the mad-cap reshoot scenes as well (that roller-skating haunts me worst than bat nipples.)

Personally, I don’t really care about all these film troubles as it’s almost an omen (Donner-natch,) to how the film is going to turn out. Let the finished movie speak for itself after it’s issues Gone With the Wind, Titanic, for example. Plus, it’s all about personal taste too.

Some can watch BvS and see a “Dark Knight” quality movie and others might want more of a BvS in a Dark Night movie.