‘Justice League’ – The Costs, Delays, and Complications of “Substantial Reshoots”

When we were first told that Joss Whedon would be coming in to handle reshoots on Warner Bros’ Justice League film, the story was that the reshoots would be pretty minor and in-keeping with the tone set by Zak Snyder. Over the course of last week, we started getting a whole new story. Aside from the rumors that Ben Affleck wants out of being The Batman, we were also hearing news that the reshoots were substantial enough that they warranted some actors to return to set for up to four weeks.

If you’ve seen the new trailer (Click HERE if you haven’t), then you know that the rumors are looking true. The tone of the footage shown at Comic Con was much lighter and colorful than what Snyder is known for.

So, what does this mean in terms of costs, delays, and complications? According to Variety, the cost of the reshoots is already up around $25 million. That’s just the up-front financial cost of the reshoots. There’s also the scheduling conflicts of actors like Henry Cavill (who is being forced to jump back and forth between reshoots and the new Mission: Impossible film), and Ezra Miller, who is slated to begin filming the second Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie.

Scheduling has become such an issue for Cavill that they will now have to digitally remove a mustache from Henry Cavill’s face. From Variety:
Because of this, a mustache he grew for his character in the “Mission Impossible” sequel will have to be digitally removed in post-production. Paramount, which is distributing the “Mission: Impossible” sequel, would not allow Cavill to shave the facial hair while production was taking place.

Finally, we have the question of who will get the credit when the movie hits theaters. Will the director title go solely to Zak Snyder or will he be sharing it with Joss Whedon? Whedon’s fingerprints could definitely be felt in the latest trailer. It is safe to guess that $25 million in new shooting will mean that his stamp is going to be all over the project.

It’s never a good sign when there seems to be as much story going on off-screen as there is on-screen.

Source: Variety