Longest director's cut compared to the cinematic release

The longest "director's cut" version of a film, by comparison to the edited version used for the original theatrical release, is Zack Snyder's Justice League (USA, 2021), the famous director's preferred version of Justice League (USA, 2017). The original cinematic release was 120 minutes long, while the "Snyder Cut" runs for 242 minutes.

The Justice League had been a troubled production from the start. Beginning with 2013's Man of Steel (USA), Warner Bros. Pictures had partnered with director/screenwriter Zack Snyder to develop the backbone of what was termed the DC Comics Expanded Universe. It was hoped that this series of movies would mirror the runaway success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and set up various spin-offs.

The first film, Man of Steel, was a commercial success despite middling reviews, but Snyder's 2016 follow-up Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice was viewed as a disappointment by studio bosses. By the time work began on Justice League, Warner Bros. executives were expressing misgivings about the dark tone and long running times of Snyder's movies.

As a consequence, when Snyder delivered a rough cut that was gloomy, sombre in tone and more than five hours long, the studio balked. Extensive reshoots and edits were requested, but Snyder was forced to abruptly withdraw from the project – due to the death of his daughter – before these could be completed.

The project was passed to Joss Whedon, who reshot around three quarters of the film, rewrote large sections of the script, and brought the running time down to two hours. The movie was approved by the studio executives and released on 17 November 2017, however it turned out to be a box office bomb. It received overwhelmingly negative reviews and grossed $657 m (£517,229,820) on a production and marketing budget that had been estimated to be around $750 m (£590,445,000).

Following the failure of the theatrical release, a campaign began on social media demanding that Warner release the "Snyder Cut" of the movie. Fans were curious about this mysterious multi-hour epic and several members of the cast and crew – equally disappointed with the film as released – joined the chorus. The hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut became popular on social media, and more then 180,000 people signed a petition requesting the film's release.

In Feb 2020, Snyder announced that he had been given a budget to finish his version of the film, which required post production work and a few additional scenes. The final product was released on 18 March 2021 through streaming service HBO Max as Zack Snyder's Justice League. Critics praised the film's characterization and style, but complained that at 4 hours 2 minutes, it was too long.