It’s almost a week later, and Zack Snyder‘s surprise announcement that HBO Max will officially “Release the Snyder Cut” in 2021 is still reverberating across the fandom and streaming worlds.
In a new interview with Business Insider, HBO Max Content Chief Kevin Reilly opens up about the decision to turn the fabled cut of Justice League into a reality, and how it fits into the streaming service’s aggressive content strategy of “closing deals every week.” According to Reilly, conversations about the Snyder Cut had been happening in secret for a while, but there was a significant amount of red tape involved. In fact, there was a chance that the decision couldn’t be ready before HBO Max launched.
I forget when Zack and Deborah [Snyder] first gave us the sense of where they were heading, but even from that meeting, me and my team felt it was something we really wanted to do. There were a lot of issues involved to figure out how we could deliver on his vision, and a myriad of legal issues. We’ve been sitting on this for quite some time but working on it. It was obviously a secret project given the high level of interest, but we were chipping away at it piece by piece. There was some strategy but also some serendipity in how we got over the hurdle of some of those issues just before the launch [of Max].
Reilly also reiterated HBO Max’s commitment to DC Comics properties like Justice League Dark from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Greg Berlanti’s upcoming Green Lantern series. On top of that, the content chief says they’re still sitting on a couple of “headline grabbers,” which could be good news for fans who are feverishly hoping to see David Ayer’s director cut of Suicide Squad. Much like the Snyder Cut, the Ayer Cut could also be tossed together quickly and at a minimal cost, which would help HBO Max fill a gap in content thanks to production delays from the current pandemic. Plus the announcement would almost definitely grab headlines.
(Via Business Insider)