While the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League is imminent, another of Snyder’s superhero projects is getting another look. Snyder is in the process of remastering Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to restore it to its IMAX aspect ratio. Snyder confirmed this week that the remaster will be available on Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray (via ComicBook).
“I just approved the Blu-ray box the other day, so for sure it will exist on Blu-ray, and then I think it will exist on HBO Max,” Snyder told the I Minutemen YouTube channel in a new interview. “I have to confirm now, but for sure we’ve been talking about the release. It’s meant to, especially for the special edition, it’s to replace the one that was kind of messed up a little bit. The Blu-ray, I think, was okay. The 4K was [messed up].”
Snyder commented that he’d watched the movie on “Apple movies or wherever it was,” and noticed that the “reds were all blocked up.” Red blocking and banding are common problems that can be attributed to incorrectly-mastered or compressed source material or to displays that don’t have the color depth to show a smooth progression of certain colors, especially in red and black transitions.
In addition to fixing the color grading, the release will show the film in its IMAX aspect ratio, which adds a significant amount of new content to the frame. Batman v Superman premiered in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which is fairly standard for theatrical releases, while IMAX releases are in a 1.43:1 aspect ratio. If a film is shot first in IMAX, the standard theatrical release will chop off the top and bottom to make it fit–similar to how widescreen movie releases were once upon a time cropped for 1.33:1 televisions.
Snyder didn’t share exactly when we’ll see the IMAX remaster of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on shelves, but in the meantime, Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max on March 18.
