#ReleaseTheSnyderCut Movement Begins With A Timeline And Emotional Tribute
THE DAWN
November 19th, 2017: Zack post a photo of him on the boat in Justice League, with the name “Cortlandt” on Vero. Ironic.
November 25th, 2017: Zack post a photo of him and Joe Manganiello on the Justice League set of him as Deathstroke on Vero.
November 29th, 2017: Justice League behind the scenes details the ‘Frankenstein” of a film.
- Few people are happy with the finished project, which one insider called “a Frankenstein” made of the assembled parts favored by rotating executives and directors and which had the worst opening for a DC Comics-based movie in years. But several people who spoke to TheWrap said the decision to keep the film’s Nov. 17 release date was a mistake — one as plain as Superman’s face.
- After the disappointment of “Batman v Superman,” the individual with deep knowledge of Warner Bros. said studio executives repeatedly went to Silverman to suggest removing Snyder from “Justice League.” The individual said DC President Jon Berg was sent to the set for the better part of a year to oversee the production out of budget concerns.
- The insider said Silverman was “quite harsh on Zack” when “Batman v Superman” underwhelmed audiences. But he didn’t fire him: Removing a director is a major distraction on any film, and it would be a sign of serious trouble on a tentpole designed to support a larger universe.
- “They were already in deep prep on ‘Justice League’ and it would have cost a fortune. There’s stickiness to a director because there’s so much cost to unstick him,” the insider said. “Warners is a studio that almost to a fault always wants to project strength.”
- Asked who ultimately decided to keep Snyder on, the insider said: “It wasn’t Greg’s decision. This was all happening on a Tsujihara level.”
- But then it wasn’t. Snyder was under added pressure because Warner Bros. was embracing “the lighter, different, more confectionery ideas of Joss,” the insider said. “It stopped being a good situation on any level.”
- One executive told TheWrap Tsujihara and Emmerich “wanted to preserve their bonuses they would be paid before the merger,” and were worried that “if they pushed the movie, then their bonuses would have been pushed to the following year and they might not still be at the studio.”
- Another knowledgeable insider said that at the highest levels of Warner Bros., bonuses are awarded “for making good decisions.” If delaying a film is the right decision, an executive could be rewarded for it.
December 5th, 2017: Zack post a photo taken by Clay Enos on Vero as he’s working in his office on the Warner Bros. lot captioned “Working in my office photo by @clayenos“
December 7th, 2017: Johns gets demoted from overseeing DC Films.
- Jon Berg will be leaving his current job running the comic book’s film production division, according to several sources with knowledge of the studio’s plans. A search is underway for his replacement. Berg will instead become a production partner with Roy Lee, the producer of “The Lego Movie” and “It,” who has a deal on the lot.
- “This is something that Jon approached me about six months ago, and he expressed his goal was to ultimately be a producer at the studio,” Warner Bros. Picture Group President Toby Emmerich said in a statement to Variety. “I first met Jon when, as a producer, he brought ‘Elf’ to New Line, which remains one of the best and most evergreen titles in the library. We’re thrilled that Jon is partnering with Roy and anticipate their company being a valuable source of movies for Warner Bros. and New Line.”
- Warners is expected to name a new person to run point on DC’s films. Geoff Johns, who has partnered with Berg on much of the creative direction of the movies, is expected to continue serving as DC Entertainment’s chief creative officer. Johns, who reports to DC president Diane Nelson, works in areas such as television (and has written various episodes for DC-inspired shows), publishing, and consumer products, in addition to his contributions to the films. Going forward, his work on the films may evolve, and could be more advisory in nature.
- Berg and Johns were intimately involved in the production. Berg essentially decamped for the film’s London set, and both men have full producer credits on the picture, which would likely not be the case on future movies. “Justice League” suffered from a difficult birth. An early version, directed by Zack Snyder, alarmed studio executives with its dark tone. That had been the knock on Snyder’s two previous DC films, “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” After his daughter committed suicide, Snyder eventually left the production before it underwent costly re-shoots. Joss Whedon, who had been brought on the punch up the dialogue, took over directing, but studio brass recognized that so much footage had been shot already that there were limits to what could be done to improve the picture. Studio executives realized early on that Snyder’s decision to have Steppenwolf, a god-like, all-CGI creation, as the principal antagonist was faulty. In fact, many reviews were particularly harsh about Steppenwolf, criticizing the character for being one-note and the product of unconvincing visual effects.
December 9th, 2017: Ciaran Hinds, who voiced Steppenwolf in Justice League, makes his thoughts known about the Theatrical Cut.
December 21st, 2017: Zack post another photo of his office at the Warner Bros. lot on Vero.
January 4th, 2018: Walter Hamada is named President
- As part of a shake-up of its DC film operations, Warner Bros. is promoting Walter Hamada to oversee its comic book movies, Variety has learned. He will serve as president of DC-based film production. In December, the studio decided to replace Jon Berg and Geoff Johns as the heads of the DC movies. Berg became a production partner with Roy Lee, the producer of “The Lego Movie” and “It,” who has a deal on the lot.
- The move comes as DC is looking for more quality control of its big-screen efforts — the studio captured acclaim and box office bonanza with last summer’s “Wonder Woman,” but was savaged by critics for “Suicide Squad” and “Justice League.” There is widespread frustration over DC’s failure to match the popularity of Marvel movies.
- Last summer, Warner Bros. named Courtenay Valenti, best known for her work on the Harry Potter films, as president of production at Warner Bros. She will continue in that role, as will DC Entertainment chief Diane Nelson.
January 5th, 2018: Zack Snyder wins the AFI Award for Wonder Woman.
January 22nd, 2018: Zack post a photo on Vero in his office on the Warner Bros. lot captioned “At the office“.
February 4th, 2018: Rick Famiyuwa post picture with comparisons to Box Office figures of Black Panther and Justice League.
February 7th, 2018: Zack post that his production company, Cruel & Unusual Punishment, has a new World Headquarters under construction on Vero.
February 13th, 2018: Storyboard of Darkseid gets “leaked”. The same day the Superman ‘deleted’ scenes from Justice League get released.
February 15th, 2018: Zack makes a comment about the Superman deleted scenes that were released with the DVD of Justice League “First of all, I shot it.” on Vero.
February 20th, 2018: Chantal Nong is tapped with a key production role.
- The DC Entertainment arm of Warner Bros. Pictures is filling out with the hire of Warners exec Chantal Nong. Nong has been named vp production of Warners’ DC film group, which in January received a new leader in Walter Hamada, one of the executives behind the massively successful Conjuring horror movies made by Warner Bros.’ New Line division.
February 22nd, 2018: Joss Whedon Exits Batgirl. Say what you will, but that is strange he leaves, and then later it’s found out the story he was said to have had which is the sole reason he was given the opportunity to direct the film, just didn’t fit with the way they were doing things. It’s almost as if it was a publicity stunt so Warner bros. could eventually have him direct Justice League. Why not Patty Jenkins or Christopher Nolan, or David Ayer? Especially because they were ‘pick ups’ that shouldn’t have changed anything about the film only that wasn’t the case. Maybe they didn’t want to betray Zack’s vision on the film and so Whedon was the only one willing to?
- “Batgirl is such an exciting project, and Warners/D.C. such collaborative and supportive partners, that it took me months to realize I really didn’t have a story,” Whedon said. He then thanked DC president Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. Picture Group president Toby Emmerich. “I’m grateful to Geoff and Toby and everyone who was so welcoming when I arrived, and so understanding when I . . . uh, is there a sexier word for ‘failed?’”
February 23rd, 2018: Zack post two pictures, one of Superman from Man of Steel with the caption “Found this guy“, and another of his ‘cut’ thumb on Vero.
February 24th, 2018: Zack likes a post about Whedon leaving Batgirl, which is then liked by Patty Jenkins on Twitter.
February 28th, 2018: Zack post a picture of himself saying “Guess I got to shave this thing” since he let his beard grow out, but apparently will need to be clean shaven for whatever reason. On Vero.
March 3rd, 2018: Zack post a picture of Aquaman from his Justice League film captioning “This guy” on Vero.
March 5th, 2018: Zack post a picture of Kiersey Clemons as Iris West from his cut of Justice League on Vero captioning it “This kid. Not really a kid but you know what I mean…Kiersey Clemons is awesome…took this with my Leica Q”.
March 6th, 2018: Zack post a picture of Ezra Miller as Barry Allen from his cut of Justice League on Vero captioning it “This guy and the t-shirt #LeicaMonochrome”.
March 8th, 2018: Zack post a picture of Diane Lane and Amy Adams as Martha Kent and Lois Lane of a cut scene of Justice League for International Woman’s Day on Vero captioning it “These ladies #InternationalWomansDay“.
March 14th, 2018: Zack post a picture of Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, and Jason Momoa from a cut scene of Justice League film with Superman’s Casket captioning it “This crew” on Vero.
March 22nd, 2018: Zack post a picture of Amber Heard as Mero from his Justice League film captioning it “Shot this with my Leica Q …Amber is so awesome. Perfect Mera” on Vero.
March 26th, 2018: Diane Nelson takes leave of absence.
- Diane Nelson, president of DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, is taking a leave of absence of an undisclosed length. The move was announced by Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara in a memo to DC and Consumer Products employees. Nelson will begin her leave on April 2. She is expected to return to her post at some point in the future. She will use the time to deal with a combination of family and medical issues, according to an individual with knowledge of her plans.
- “After 22 years with the company, she wants to recharge, as well as have immediate and uninterrupted time with her family,” wrote Tsujihara. “This is her decision and the entire senior management team and I support this, and will help facilitate it.”
March 27th, 2018: Geoff Johns changes his Twitter header to the Incredible Hulk.
March 31st, 2018: Zack post a picture of Ray Fisher from his Justice League film of a cut scene of him playing football captioning it “Believe @RayFisher #borglife” on Vero.
April 3rd, 2018: Zack begins to open up on Vero about a lot of references and plot points about Batman v Superman and Justice League Part 1.
April 8th, 2018: Zack, along with a friend of his, Fiona, organize a BvS Reference challange.
April 21st, 2018: Zack post a picture of Jim Gordan and Batman on top of the Gargoyle from his cut of Justice League captioning it “First of all…I shot it. #JL” on Vero. He also makes another post about him and Chris Nolan spending time together.
April 23rd, 2018: Zack post a picture of Deathstroke from his Justice League film captioning it “This fella #MonteCarlo” on Vero.
April 24th, 2018: Joss Whedon Explains why he left Batgirl.
- At the Avengers: Infinity War tonight, Whedon was asked to clarify further why exactly he chose to move on from the project, and his response is very interesting. Whedon explained to Variety: “It had been a year since I first pitched the story and a lot happened in that year. I felt some of the elements might not work as well, and the story kind of just crumbled in my hands.”
- It sounds like Whedon actually did have an idea for Batgirl, but over time, it just no longer worked anymore. Many are citing the MeToo movement as the reason his idea didn’t fit after a lot happened in the past year. There was no longer space in the world for whatever he had planned, and Whedon wasn’t able to bring the story back from that. He goes on to say:
- “There were elements I hadn’t mastered and after a long time felt like I wasn’t going to. So, I told people I didn’t have an idea, which isn’t the exact truth. I had an idea that didn’t fit in the space that was left for it. It was a little heartbreaking because I was so excited about it.”
April 30th, 2018: Zack wishes Gal Gadot a Happy Birthday by posting a cut scene from his Justice League film on Vero.
April 30th, 2018: It is reported that Jim Lee clarifies that Zack Snyder was NOT fired from Justice League.
- Rumors emerged earlier this year suggesting Snyder had actually been fired after delivering an ‘unwatchable‘ first cut of Justice League. This isn’t the case according to Jim Lee, DC Entertainment’s Co-Publisher. Lee recently appeared at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, and according to a breakdown of the panel from Reddit (via CBR), Lee insisted in response to a fan question that Snyder chose to step away from the project to be with his family.
May 1st, 2018: Zack post a photo of Gal Gadot and his AFI award he won from Wonder Woman on Vero captioning it “This is the first day I met Gal and this is the first photo of her I took she didn’t know it at the time but I had already decided she was my Wonder Woman“. Then Zack is photographed back at his studio on the Warner Bros. lot and it’s captioned “At work, writing week in progress #TheFountainhead @ZackSnyder“
May 4th, 2018: Zack post a photo of Jason Momoa as Aquaman from his original debut of the “Unite The Seven” image on Vero captioning it “Vintage…Ausgust 2 2014“. Then he post an image of Henry Cavill for his Birthday with the test shoot of casting him as Superman captioning it “This was the shot I did to show the studio that this was my Superman…they agreed. Got the suit from Warner archives and Henry honared it’s Legacy- Happy Birthday my brother“.
May 15th, 2018: Zack post a photo of prototypes of costumes of Batman v Superman and Justice League in his office on Vero captioning it “Some costume prototypes that I have hanging around the office“.
May 16th, 2018: Zack post a story board of how Victor found the Motherbox from his Justice League film on Vero captioning it “Victor explains how the Mother Box got found. Apparently the Nazis had it near the end of the Second World War…Victor puts himself in the narrative up to his own creation.“
May 22nd, 2018: Kiersey Clemons confirms she is still Iris West in The Flash on Conan. Apparently, Umberto from Heroic Hollywood claims there was a Non-disclosure about said news but that begs the question why? She was never said to have been replaced. I find that strange if true.
May 23rd, 2018: Zack post another storyboard of Victor watching his father watch the video log of what his father was doing from the scene in BvS on Vero captioning it “Victor watching himself as his father (in bg-background-) turns off camera from video log in BvS“
May 24th, 2018: Zack post a picture of the Flash and Harley Quinn (picture only) from his Justice League film on Vero captioning it “#tbt to love at first sight“. We also learn that Zack has no idea who the Russian family is in Justice League. Meaning what we were told about him and Joss ‘working on scenes together’ before he stepped down was a lie. Also that Zack still hasn’t seen the Theatrical Cut of Justice League.
May 31st, 2018: Zack post three pictures on Vero. The first one is a selfie promoting art in L.A. but in the background ‘We Rise’. After that two more, one being the costume test of Ezra Miller as The Flash and the second one being the first time the Trinity was photographed for BvS.
June 1st, 2018: Patty Jenkins reveals a new Wonder Woman 2 poster ‘WW84‘
June 6th, 2018: Diane Nelson is out
- Diane Nelson, president of DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, who has been on leave for several months, is not returning to the studio.
- Nelson took a leave of absence in late March in order to focus on family-related issues. She had been expected to return, but sources say that very recently she decided not to resume her duties, announcing her plan to Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara.
- “Diane has been a friend and colleague as well as a valued member of the Warner Bros. family for more than 20 years,” he said. “Throughout her tenure, her leadership and contributions have helped shape the way the studio operates today, and we’re better for having had her on our team. While we’re sad she’ll be leaving us, we completely respect and support her decision. Whatever her next chapter holds, I know she’ll make it amazing.”
- The interim executive structure established during her leave will remain for the time being. That framework sees Thomas Gewecke, who serves as chief digital officer and executive vp strategy and business development at Warner Bros., overseeing the DC executive management team of Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, Geoff Johns and Amit Desai. Warner Bros. Consumer Products president Pam Lifford will now report directly to Tsujihara.
June 7th, 2018: Zack post two pictures on Vero. One is from his cut of Justice League film captioned “The King of Men”. The second is of Henry Cavill, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, and Gal Gadot on a plane traveling to 2016 Comic Con captioned “July 2016 traveling to the Con”. One thing to note is the big smiles on the actors faces. There was a time above..
June 11th, 2018: Geoff Johns Exits DC Entertainment.
- DC Entertainment president and chief creative officer Geoff Johns — who went from authoring comic books to having a major hand in the making of movies and television shows based on famous heroes — is stepping down from his executive post and entering into an exclusive writer-producer deal with Warner Bros. and DC, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
- The moves come in the wake of last week’s exit of Diane Nelson, DC Entertainment’s president, to whom Johns reported, and occurs the day before a judge’s decision will be announced in the high-profile anti-trust trial between the U.S. Department of Justice and AT&T, which is seeking to merge with Time Warner, the parent company of both Warner Bros. and DC.
- And it takes place as Warners’ movie division is in the midst of a transition as Walter Hamada, who was installed as president of DC-based films at the studio by pictures group chairman Toby Emmerich, in January, begins to shape the superhero slate in the post-Justice League era.
- Johns now goes from the executive ranks back to the creative world, a world which he never truly left. Even as he was promoted to DC Entertainment president in 2016, and retained the title of chief creative officer, which he had held since 2010, he continued to pen some of DC’s biggest books. And, more impactfullly, he was key in launching the TV empire based on DC’s heroes, co-developing The CW’s most successful superhero show, The Flash, and with Peter Roth and WBTV, launching Supergirl and Black Lightning, and many others.
- “I took on a role at DCE because I love the characters and this universe more than anything. But, I want to spend my days writing and on set. I’m thrilled to get back to a more hands-on creative role. It’s a dream job on dream projects, reaching even deeper into DC’s vast pantheon of characters,” said Johns in a statement.
- Along with this news, a Senior Editor for Vulture tweets his thoughts on Johns saying: “I remember hearing that Geoff Johns rewrote so much of JUSTICE LEAGUE when Zack Snyder was still directing that Chris Terrio would complain, “Maybe *try* using some of my pages?” WB was allegedly so unsatisfied with how the Johns/Snyder version was shaping up that they convened a footage summit for *other* writers including Joss Whedon, Allan Heinberg, Seth Grahame-Smith, and Andrea Berloff to offer feedback. Then they hired Whedon.