Zack Snyder Teases Justice League R-Rating & Theatrical Release

Zack Snyder Teases R-Rating, Theatrical Release for Justice League

News on Zack Snyder’s Justice League has quieted down of late — perhaps a sign that a big bomb is about to drop? — but the director managed to reignite the anticipation at least somewhat when he told Entertainment Weekly that he believes his cut of the film will receive an R rating; and also teased a theatrical release for the four-hour long superhero extravaganza.

“Here’s one piece of information nobody knows: The movie is insane and so epic and is probably rated R — that’s one thing I think will happen, that it will be an R-rated version, for sure,” Snyder tells EW. “We haven’t heard from the MPAA, but that’s my gut.”

When pressed about why the film will receive such a harsh rating, Snyder replied, “There’s one scene where Batman drops an F-bomb. Cyborg is not too happy with what’s going on with his life before he meets the Justice League, and he tends to speak his mind. And Steppenwolf is pretty much just hacking people in half. So [the rating would be due to] violence and profanity, probably both.”

That’s sure to leave Snyder detractors angry, but at this point the man is doing the film he truly wanted to make all along. In the same interview, Snyder also remarked about a potential theatrical release for his film.

“I’m a huge fan and a big supporter of the cinematic experience, and we’re already talking about Justice League playing theatrically at the same time it’s coming to HBO Max,” Snyder said. “So weirdly, it’s the reverse [of the trend].”

A theatrical release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League would be awesome, so hopefully WB makes it happen!

Zack Snyder’s Justice League will reportedly cost around $70 million in order to properly finish the editing and visual effects of the director’s original vision, as well as the additional photography. The original post-production crew is also expected to return along with the cast members to record additional dialogue for the cut.

It was revealed at DC FanDome that the movie will release on HBO Max in 2021 by being broken up into four one-hour parts that will also be released as one four-hour film.

Fueled by the hero’s restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Justice League sees Bruce Wayne enlist the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League, which features a screenplay from Chris Terrio from a story by Snyder and Terrio, stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

Released in November 2017, the film earned mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, praising the action and performances from Gadot and Miller while criticizing every other aspect of the film, namely the inconsistent tone that many fault Joss Whedon (The Avengers) for after taking over directorial duties from Snyder. With a large budget of $300 million and a break-even point of $750 million, the film is considered a box office bomb having grossed only $658 million.