The Justice League Snyder Cut trailer is here

HBO Max to Release "Justice League" "Snyder Cut" 0:55

(CNN) -

HBO Max will feature a lot of big movies this year - in fact the entire Warner Bros. movie lineup of 2021. However, one of the biggest movies to hit the service isn't from 2021. It's not even new;

it's a remake of a movie from four years ago.

On Sunday, the service released the latest trailer for "Snyder Cut," an extended version of director Zack Snyder's 2017 superhero movie "Justice League."

The film, which is scheduled to hit HBO Max on March 18, arrives with great excitement and high expectations.

But why would WarnerMedia, which is also the parent company of CNN, go to the trouble of re-releasing a 2017 movie?

And not just relaunching the movie, but also adding new scenes to create a big budget four hour version?

Well, it serves two purposes: to please fans and to increase HBO Max's subscriber base.

• This is how Jared Leto looks like the Joker in 'Justice League'

Fans have been clamoring for the updated movie - in which DC superheroes Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman team up - since the original hit theaters four years ago.

Snyder, who has directed other films in the DC Entertainment catalog, including "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," stepped down as director of "Justice League" after a family tragedy.

Joss Whedon, director of Marvel's "Avengers," was hired to finish the film.

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Since then, DC fans have practically begged Warner Bros. to release Snyder's version, posting the hashtag #ReleasetheSnyderCut on social media.

They finally got her wish, and the studio announced last May that it would release Snyder's version on HBO Max.

Releasing a movie starring Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman on your new streaming service might seem like an entry for WarnerMedia.

However, it does pose some risk in seeing that the "Justice League" of 2017 was a disappointment.

Fans didn't like the movie, as they probably guessed, considering they've been begging for a remake, and critics largely trashed it.

The box office totals were also mediocre for a superhero movie, even though it made roughly $ 660 million worldwide.

But box office numbers are not a concern when it comes to streaming services.

For WarnerMedia, the decision to premiere "Snyder Cut" on HBO Max makes sense.

Streaming services are now the top priority for Hollywood media companies, and to compete with Netflix, new services need as many subscribers as they can get, as well as exclusive content to get them.

While HBO Max's 17.2 million activations are solid, they pale in comparison to Netflix and Disney + subscriber numbers, so the service has to work hard to catch up.

This also helps explain why WarnerMedia announced in December that all Warner Bros. feature films would be released for broadcast and in theaters on the same day this year.

That decision, which will bring potential blockbusters like "Dune," "The Suicide Squad" and "The Matrix 4" to viewers' living rooms, caused quite a stir in Hollywood.

However, in a streaming market where content is king, WarnerMedia is not stopping.

So bringing together DC's most popular heroes in a movie fans can only find on HBO Max is a no-brainer for WarnerMedia as it tries to create its own heroic acts in the

streaming

world

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