Leaked 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' Clip Suggests WB Originally Planned to Release Movie in IMAX
A leaked piece of footage from "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" hints that Warner Bros. initially planned to release an Ultimate Edition in theaters but eventually went against it. This is not out of the question, considering that before the film had its theatrical release, the studio had announced a longer and R-rated cut of the film that would give fans a better version of the movie.
As promised, WB eventually released the Ultimate Edition, which included not just the "Dawn of Justice" Blu-ray version but also a bonus 30-minute piece of footage that was not shown in theaters, including its deleted scenes. Although the home video extra was basically the same as the one released in theaters, it was generally better than what most fans experienced on the big screen because it filled in the holes found in the original narrative. More importantly, it offered a clearer story arc for Superman—something that the original movie was widely criticized for.
With the recently-leaked footage, however, it looks like WB actually planned to release not just the Ultimate Edition of the film but a premium, IMAX version of this Ultimate Edition. In the scene, Bruce Wayne was shown traveling through time using his mind and coming across Superman in a desolate future, seemingly going berserk. Although this scene was included in the Ultimate Edition, it was quite noticeable that some scenes were featured in an IMAX ratio, including the one where the fleet was making its way through Batman's compound and the armed guards were doing their business in a school bus. Shortly after the initial footage was leaked, the 13-minute IMAX ending of the Ultimate Edition also surfaced online.
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Since the clips were leaked, there have been speculations that WB must have originally planned to put the Ultimate Edition in cinemas after "Dawn of Justice" finished its initial run but before the movie hit home video so fans could still revisit the film. For some reason, however, the studio eventually decided against it.
WB has yet to comment on the leaked IMAX footage.
