The release date for the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ‘Ultimate Edition’ was announced on June 2nd, which came with a trailer that included some new scenes from the film. Released theatrically on March 25th to mixed reviews, it received a Rotten Tomatoes composite score of merely 27%. Despite a huge opening weekend, Batman v Superman had a historic drop in its second weekend and failed to reach the $1 billion dollar mark that Warner Bros. was expecting to hit with the first ever meeting of DC’s two biggest titans, Batman and Superman, on film.
About a month before BvS’s release, it was rumored that there was an R-Rated version of the film that had about 30 minutes of additional footage, which includes Jena Malone’s role that was completely cut from the theatrical version. Zack Snyder has a history of leaving a lot on the cutting room floor for his films, with both Watchmen and Sucker Punch receiving uncut home entertainment versions.
Fans have been hoping that this Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman will improve upon the muddled theatrical version, but when the BvS Ultimate Edition trailer dropped last week, cinematographer Larry Fong had some choice words:
Those of you who are fans, will dig it. If you hated it, you’ll still hate it.
— Larry Fong (@larryfong) June 2, 2016
With fans who didn’t enjoy the theatrical version of the film, hoping that the Ultimate Edition would change their minds, this was a puzzling and disappointing comment made by the film’s cinematographer. However, Larry Fong seems to have had a change of heart:
Watched the #UltimateEdition again; now believe EVERYONE will LOVE it. Pre-order TODAY! #BatmanvSuperman #WBHomeEnt https://t.co/bRVQbTZLzi
— Larry Fong (@larryfong) June 10, 2016
With Warner Bros. desperate to make the DC Extended Universe work, could it be that they had a chat with Mr. Fong telling him not to release negative press on one of their already critically panned films? Or perhaps a viewing of a completed Ultimate Edition really did change his mind. I guess we’ll have to wait and see when Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition is released digitally on June 28th and Blu-ray July 19th.