Justice League Director Zack Snyder Calls HBO Max Movie Premieres a “Knee-Jerk” Reaction to COVID

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is coming to HBO Max — and so are 17 Warner Bros. movies that will stream the same day they release into theaters as part of a one-year hybrid distribution model. Unlike Snyder’s director’s cut of Justice League, set as a four-part miniseries and then a movie that will stream on HBO Max, many of the films receiving day-and-date releases did not plan to bypass theaters. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad are among the films receiving a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release in 2021 as part of a unilateral decision that sparked outrage directed at AT&T-owned WarnerMedia:

“It felt like a pretty bold move and that maybe the implication wasn’t 100 percent thought out,” Snyder told Entertainment Weekly. “I feel like there’s a lot of people panicking during COVID. I hope that, in the end, that’s what this was — some sort of knee-jerk to COVID and not some sort of greater move to disrupt the theatrical experience. I thought we were kind of already getting very close to the ideal theatrical window where you still had marketing material out there and you hadn’t forgotten about the film by the time it came out on DVD or streaming.”

He added, “I thought we were starting to hone in on that sweet spot, but this kind of throws a monkey wrench in the works.”

And Snyder — who now says his soon-to-be-completed version of Justice League could be released into theaters as an R-rated cut — has already promised to bring Zack Snyder’s Justice League to fans in other territories who might not have access to HBO Max.

“To all my international fans, everyone watching all over the world, don’t worry if you don’t have HBO Max. We’re working on a distribution plan, so I promise you, you’re going to get a chance to see it,” he said during the virtual DC FanDome event over the summer. “It’s going to be in four parts, one hour each. So four hours of Justice League is coming your way. We’re going to work out a way of bundling it together so you can watch it as a single film if that’s the way you want to experience it.”

DC Films and Warner Bros. bring Wonder Woman 1984 to theaters and HBO Max on Christmas Day. Zack Snyder’s Justice League premieres on the service in early to mid-2021.