Zack Snyder has shed some light on why his preferred version of 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is titled the Ultimate Edition, rather than the Director's Cut.
In an interview with MTV to promote Zack Snyder's Justice League, the director explained the logic behind the titling of his extended Batman v Superman cut. "The [Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition], like, my director's cut of [Batman v Superman] -- which, at the time, they wouldn't let me call a director's cut because they didn't want people to think the theatrical version wasn't my version -- that version of the movie drove I think like 75 percent of the DVD purchases of the movie," Snyder said. "[It's] a thing that wouldn't exist unless I said 'Hey guys, let's make this, do this version of the movie.'"
Batman v Superman and Justice League aren't the only films Snyder has released extended cuts for. In July 2009, Warner Bros. unveiled a 186-minute director's cut of Snyder's Watchmen movie adaptation. Later that year, the studio released an even longer version of the film -- clocking in at 215 minutes -- known as the "Ultimate Cut," complete with the Tales of the Black Freighter story-within-the-story and framing scenes. However, even with all the added material, Zack Snyder's Justice League is still longer than Watchmen's "Ultimate Cut," running 242 minutes long and divided into six chapters, along with an epilogue titled "A Father Twice Over."
Snyder has also spoken before about the early cut of his 2011 action/fantasy movie Sucker Punch, which he had to edit down in order to receive a PG-13 rating, having initially designed the film to be R-rated. In that case, however, he's admitted a Sucker Punch director's cut is unlikely to ever be officially released, saying "There is a conflict, if we generate another version of the movie, while that movie has been sold." By comparison, Snyder has indicated his first DC Extended Universe movie, 2013's Man of Steel, has very few cut scenes, saying the film's theatrical cut is pretty much "exactly what I wanted to do."
Zack Snyder's Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film is now streaming on HBO Max.
Source: YouTube