Still, there does seem to be a bit of a missed opportunity in releasing "Justice League" before HBO Max expands globally. subscribers by 2025, a relatively low bar considering premium cable channel HBO already had around 33 million subscribers ahead of the streaming service's launch. In October 2019, the company set a goal of hitting 50 million U.S. The company boosted its subscriber projections last week to a range of between 120 million and 150 million for HBO Max and HBO by the end of 2025.
"'Justice League' alone may not be the answer to the company's future needs, especially since the DC brand has already started moving in other directions creatively, but it may succeed as a symbolic valentine to fans," Robbins said.ĪT&T seems to be feeling confident about HBO Max. Shows like "WandaVision," "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and "Loki" all tie directly to the MCU and must be watched in order to understand all of the nuance of upcoming feature films. Warner Bros.' decision to fund and release this new "Justice League" may appease fans, but it does nothing to further the cinematic universe of the franchise.ĭisney, which owns Marvel, has used its streaming service Disney+ to expand on its theatrical releases. would need to recast the role if they wanted to bring Cyborg back into the fold for a team-up flick. Fisher also had harsh things to say about DC's head, Hamada, who he claimed helped enable Whedon's actions.Īs such, Fisher has said he will not participate in any film associated with Hamada. The actor accused Whedon of on-set harassment and an investigation was conducted. It's unclear who will be cast as the Kryptonian or when that film will find its ways to theaters.Īnd Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg, has a frayed relationship with the studio. The studio does have plans for a Superman reboot from writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and with J.J. has already gone ahead with a new Batman film starring Robert Pattinson, one that doesn't connect to any of the previous movies released by the studio.Īs for Superman, Henry Cavill is still attached to the role, but it's not clear when or where his version of the character will appear next. All of the cameos and setups in Snyder's cut of the film will likely never be seen by DC fans.Īffleck may be attached to the upcoming "Flash" film, but it's uncertain if he will the don the cowl in any DC project after that. However, that plan is completely different in 2021. Ben Affleck was supposed to have his own stand-alone feature and Snyder was already talking about a sequel to "Justice League." Solo movies would build together into team-up films. When Snyder was developing "Justice League" more than five years ago, the DC Extended Universe was expected to continue expanding with this cast in the same way that the MCU had unfolded. While fans will be pleased to finally have Snyder's cut, there's a major fault in Warner Bros.' plans with releasing this movie. The cost could be justified if WarnerMedia uses the film to gain subscribers and encourages enough current subscribers to stick with the service, said media and streaming analyst Dan Rayburn. WarnerMedia declined to comment on the project's financial terms. It's unclear if that figure includes spending on marketing. However, more recent estimates suggest WarnerMedia could have shelled out $70 million or more on the project as Snyder brought back several actors to shoot new material. Initial estimates pegged the price tag for Snyder's second take at $20 million to $30 million because many of the computer-generated images were not finished. The film sets up sequels that DC fans may never get to see, meaning even if it does succeed in drawing in subscribers for the month of March, there's no promise of new DC-related content on the horizon for the streaming service to keep those new sign-ups around. However, the risk is "Justice League" may not pay back the dividends that WarnerMedia needs it to.
WarnerMedia, which is owned by AT&T, saw the fervent crusade for Snyder's official cut of the movie as a way to appease ardent fans and pad its streaming service HBO Max with exclusive content.