Justice League's Snyder Cut has a 10-minute intermission worked in for possible theatrical screenings. When the Snyder Cut was officially announced last year, one of the biggest questions concerning it was the matter in which it would be released. Reports indicated it would either be as a TV miniseries or a feature film. Initially, it was said it would be a 4-part show, but that was later changed to Justice League being a single, 4-hour movie debuting on HBO Max on March 18.
There are plenty of examples of blockbuster films with protracted runtimes in excess of 2.5 or even 3 hours (like Avengers: Endgame), but even with those in mind, the Snyder Cut comes in atypically long. Four hours is a long time to spend watching one thing, regardless of how invested an individual viewer is. Luckily, Zack Snyder himself appears to be cognizant of that and is making sure he breaks Justice League up so it's a bit more manageable.
While appearing on the I Minutemen podcast, Snyder discussed Justice League's runtime and why it's so long. One of the reasons is there's a brief intermission included. Read his comments below:
"If ever the movie's able to be viewed in the cinema, we have a 10-minute intermission which is built into the movie. Which has a beautiful suite of music. So that adds an extra 10 minutes to the movie as well."
What's interesting is Snyder specifically mentioned theaters when bringing up the intermission. It'll be interesting to see if this is featured on HBO Max or not. There are obviously numerous differences between watching a film at the multiplex and at home. Those who watch the Snyder Cut on HBO Max will be able to freely pause and/or stop whenever they want, essentially creating their own intermission (or even breaking it up into more bite-sized installments a la a miniseries). That's clearly not a luxury offered at the cinema, so it's more than likely this is just something special planned for any theatrical screenings. It would be nice for attendees to have an opportunity to stretch their legs.
Of course, it remains to be seen when the Snyder Cut gets a theatrical release. With the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing, traditional moviegoing remains as uncertain now as it was for most of 2020. A majority of theaters in the U.S. (including those in key markets) remain closed, and it's unknown when they'll be able to reopen. That certainly makes it more difficult to plan a Snyder Cut theatrical release, but hopefully that can take place some day. Snyder is known for crafting visually-stunning, action-packed spectacles designed to be seen on the biggest of screens. Something like Justice League fits that bill, so ideally once the pandemic is over and theaters have become safer, the Snyder Cut gets its moment at the multiplex.
Source: I Minutemen
