Warner Bros. vs. Netflix: Streamer Gives Creative Freedom, Data, and ‘Real Partnership’ to the Snyders

Even though he resurrected his vision with “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” on Warner Media’s HBO Max, after seven films with the studio, he and his wife, creative partner, and producer Deborah Snyder opted to bring their next film to Netflix.

When Netflix stepped in to make the film in 2019, it offered a big budget, a greenlight for two more franchise entries, and the kind of creative freedom not often on offer in a world gone mad for existing IP.

“I’m getting a lot more indication , a lot more sharing of information in terms of indicators that are looking good.

While a theatrical run was never in the cards for “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” “Army of the Dead” rolls out in 600 theaters today, a week before it hits Netflix.

And while Snyder is an unabashed fan of the theatrical experience, she recognizes that many studio films — the kind she and her husband used to make for Warner Bros.

“What a streaming service like Netflix is doing is allowing stories to get told that wouldn’t be getting told.

“Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas,” the anime series, Snyder has developed alongside Jay Oliva and will reunite most of the film’s cast to give voice to their characters.

“If you’re thinking about creating exciting new IP, and you wait until the movie comes out and it’s successful, you’re waiting years before you can say, ‘Okay, go ahead, let’s pull the trigger on a prequel.

“When we were making the film, we never thought that ‘Justice League’ would actually happen, so we put the film canisters of ‘Justice League’ in the vault that they open up,” Snyder said.

“It’s great to be able to not be tied to a single studio, but at the same time, we’ve had this amazing relationship with our executives, with our marketing department.

…Read the full story