The Snyder Cut from ‘Justice League’ is a gamble for Warner Bros.

The expected four-hour directorial clip from ‘Justice League’ arrived on HBO Max on Thursday.

The Snyder Cut, composed of hours of unused footage and accompanied by newly filmed scenes, is an anomaly in the entertainment industry. Driven by a years-long fan-driven social media campaign, Zack Snyder got a second chance to produce his version of ‘Justice League’.

Owned by AT&T, WarnerMedia saw the fiery crusade for Snyder’s official cut of the movie as a way to appease fiery fans and support its streaming service HBO Max with exclusive content.

The risk, however, is that ‘Justice League’ will not be able to repay the dividends that WarnerMedia needs. The film sets up sequels that DC fans can never see, which means that even if it manages to attract subscribers for March, there is no promise of new DC-related content on the horizon for the streaming service to launch the new keep logs around.

Initial estimates linked the price for Snyder’s second prize at $ 20 to $ 30 million because many of the computer-generated images were not finished. However, more recent estimates suggest that WarnerMedia could have raised $ 70 million or more for the project, as Snyder brought back several actors to shoot new material. It is unclear whether the spending on marketing is included.

WarnerMedia declined to comment on the financial terms of the project.

The cost could be justified if WarnerMedia uses the film to get subscribers and encourages enough current subscribers to stay with the service, media and streaming analyst Dan Rayburn said.

What could possibly help is that HBO Max has several high-profile releases that appear on its platform in March and early April. On March 31, ‘Godzilla v. Kong ‘on duty and on April 16’ Mortal Kombat ‘will be released. Everyone will spend about a month on HBO Max before looking at a rental fee upon request.

This strategy of having a constant stream of new content can help retain subscribers.

And then there are the fans. While Walter Hamada, president of Snyder and DC Films, both said that the updated “Justice League” would not cause a boom or set up a sequel automatically, the film warns Bros. Bros. regain a good will.

“I definitely think fans will be happy,” said Erik Davis, managing editor of Fandango.

Davis, who was able to view the new “Justice League” before its launch on HBO Max, said the Snyder Cut is a “much better version of the film.”

The Snyder Cut erases co-writer and co-director Joss Whedon from the film. Whedon was brought on board after executives of Snyder’s initial cut subtracted from the film and took over when Snyder left the project after the death of his daughter.

Whedon devoured Snyder’s 214-minute cut and permeated it with moments of liveliness, something Warner Bros. said. wanted to emulate the comedy style that was successful in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Because the version of Whedon has changed so much of Snyder’s work, fans have said it’s the director’s cut of ‘Justice League’, believing it to be the purest version of the film. In May 2020, WarnerMedia granted them the wish and invested in bringing Snyder back to deal with it.

While fans will be delighted that they finally cut Snyder, there’s a big mistake in Warner Bros. ‘plans to release this movie.

When Snyder developed ‘Justice League’ more than five years ago, it is expected that the DC Extended Universe will continue to expand with this cast in the same way that the MCU unfolded. Solo films would work together into team films. Ben Affleck was supposed to have his own independent function and Snyder had already talked about a sequel to ‘Justice League’.

However, the plan is completely different in 2021. All the comos and setups in Snyder’s cut of the film will probably never be seen by DC fans.

Affleck is possibly linked to the upcoming “Flash” movie, but it is uncertain whether he will then put the hood in a DC project. Not to mention, Warner Bros. has already starred in a new Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson, one that does not align with any of the previous films released by the studio.

As for Superman, Henry Cavill is still attached to the role, but it is not clear when or where the character will appear next.

And Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg, has a weakened relationship with the studio. The actor charged Whedon with harassment and investigation was instituted. Fisher also had harsh words to say about Hamada, head of DC, who he said helped make Whedon’s actions possible.

As such, Fisher said he would not participate in any Hamada-related film. So, Warner Bros. will have to revise the role if they want to bring Cyborg back into the fold for a collaborative movie.

Warner Bros. ‘The decision to fund and release this new “Justice League” may appease fans, but it does not help anything to advance the franchise’s film universe.

Disney, which owns Marvel, used its streaming service Disney + to expand its theatrical releases. Programs like “WandaVision”, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Loki” all tie directly to the MCU and need to be watched to understand all the nuances of upcoming feature films.

The Snyder Cut does not. It exists in a vacuum.

As for the hope that fans will flock to HBO Max to see the film, which increases the number of subscribers is the longevity of their interest.

“Is this good business? Perhaps.’ said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com. “As a one-time release, the film may briefly boost HBO Max subscriptions, but streamers are the strongest with episodic and weekly content that makes casual consumers return for binge after binge.”

Robbins noted that ‘Justice League’ is a niche film because the demographics of the viewers’ young and male are skewed. While this is likely to attract DC fans, it may not do much to move the subscriber login needle across the board unless they refer to other HBO Max content.

“‘Justice League’ may not be the answer to the future needs of the business, especially since the DC brand has already begun to move creatively in other directions, but it could succeed as a symbolic valentine for fans,” Robbins said .

AT&T seems to feel confident about HBO Max. The company raised its subscriber forecast last week to between 120 million and 150 million for HBO Max and HBO by the end of 2025.

In October 2019, the company set a goal of reaching 50 million US subscribers by 2025, a relatively low measure as the HBO cable channel already had approximately 33 million subscribers before the launch of the streaming service.

Yet there seems to be a missed opportunity to release ‘Justice League’ before HBO Max expands worldwide. The platform will be released in about 60 markets outside the US this year and will launch a cheaper version with ads in June. “Justice League” achieved most of its $ 658 million in ticket sales internationally. It raised just $ 230 million in the US box office.

WarnerMedia could easily have used ‘Justice League’ as a lure for international launches. Instead, the film, which will stream in high-definition state-side, is likely to be a choice target for international digital pirates.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes.