Have you ever wondered why the Justice League movie (2017) wasn't so successful despite having so much potential and some of the most emblematic comic book heroes? In this post we will continue the analysis of what happened to this film.
In the two previous entries (part 1 y part 2) I wrote about the consequences of creating a rushed cinematic universe on the characters development. This time I want to talk about some problems that this production faced, because it was plagued with issues since its inception and shortly before the filming began it was released the controversial Batman v Superman which was panned by the critics and fans alike.
Given this, the studio didn't have enough time to plan a proper correction in the course of both the tone and vision of the franchise (then led by Zack Snyder who also directed Man of Steel and the aforementioned Batman v Superman) in order to avoid the controversy generated by the previous movie. Since everything was ready to start shooting the new installment of this saga, including script and all the planning and pre-production, in these circumstances the studio decided to continue with the established vision, probably fearing the costs of stopping or postponing the superproduction.
The result apparently was something similar to what was observed in the previous installments and that probably terrified Warner Bros., who decided ultimately to alter the direction of the feature film as much as possible in subsequent reshoots sessions. The two previous films of the saga had been already considered "too dark" by many and this was one of the biggest criticisms, the accumulated discontent due to this aspect was evident at the time.
Reshoots aren't a new or rare thing in Hollywood. Nowadays almost all the big films, that is to say high budget superproductions, after completing their main photography process go through a programmed session of reshoots to redo some scenes or add new dialogues after the first version of them is evaluated. This is done in order to correct parts that weren't so good or where the implementation of the original vision from the director or the studio wasn't satisfactory, in short the goal is to improve the quality or appealing of the film.
However, the reshoots that Warner Bros. wanted went beyond a couple of tweaks here and there, the intention was to turn a grim film into something a little more cheerful. I imagine the executives of the studio asking themselves: Can't we make it look more like the Avengers? ... Everyone loves the Avengers, right? Well, they hired Joss Whedon, responsible for writing and directing the first two Avengers films, to write the "retouches" to the plot, the dialogues and scenes that would be added.
According to the official sources the plan was for Whedon to only write new material for the reshoots while Zack Snyder would continue in the director's chair but tragedy knocked on Snyder's door, because his daughter unfortunately committed suicide and he had to left the production, and Whedon was asked to assume the role of director during the reshoots. It's widely speculated that Snyder had already been fired by the studio when it was announced that Whedon was just going to rewrite stuff but we may never know what really happened behind the scenes.
Whedon had to take the helm 5 months before the premiere of the film, and it wasn't the usual or expected amount of scenes in a reshoot process but extended to try to achieve what the studio aspired. Not only was the time available before the premiere of the film scarce taking into account that it is a film highly loaded with CGI, in addition to this the extension of production beyond what was originally planned caused conflicts for the actor Henry Cavill (who plays Superman) as he was filming the latest Mission Impossible movie, a fact that originated the funny anecdote of the superman mustache .
Leaving aside other problems, the final product was a Justice League with rushed or poorly executed special effects (including the digital removal of the famous mustache) due to the lack of time and the decision to keep the premiere date intact, a budget that was increased due to the extension of the reshoots and requiring good box office results to avoid monetary losses, and finally a story that for many critics and fans alike resembled Frankenstein's monster, with parts that reflected Snyder's style and others that represented the lighter tone that Whedon was entrusted to add on.
The film was panned by critics and punished at the box office by the audience, being the installment that made less money of the franchise and probably generating financial losses to the studio. To get an idea of the untapped potential of this group of superheroes, the total amount of money earned by Justice League in all the time it was in theaters was made by Avengers: Infinity War in just its first weekend. Currently the studio still clings to this cinematic universe, refusing to clean the slate, and with new installments that had already entered production.
The Aquaman standalone movie will be released on december, which may be a surprise because it was directed by the acclaimed James Wan, and next year we will see the premier of Shazam and the second Wonder Woman movie which also has the potential of being successful by having the same director of the first one. We'll wait and see if this group of superheroes can be saved.
All rights to the DC characters images belong to Warner Bros.
