Some HBO Max users who tried to watch the animated Tom & Jerry movie on Monday afternoon got quite the surprised, when Zack Snyder’s Justice League played instead.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a four-hour version director’s cut of the 2017 Warner Bros. superhero movie, is not supposed to be released on HBO Max until March 18.
Warner Bros. confirmed that the leak was a mistake, and addressed swiftly, though at least one user told Variety he watched at least an hour of the mini-series.
Leaked: Some HBO Max users who tried to watch the animated Tom & Jerry movie on Monday afternoon got quite the surprised, when Zack Snyder’s Justice League played instead
Doug Bass, a realtor and digital marketing analyst in Charlotte, North Carolina, was among the first to notice the leak and post proof Monday afternoon on Twitter.
‘@hbomax someone’s getting fired…Tom and Jerry this is not… #SnyderCut,’ Bass tweeted, along with a photo from the film where it says ‘directed by Zack Snyder.’
Bass told Variety he was, ‘just looking for some background TV while I worked, and when I clicked on ‘Tom and Jerry,’ [the] Snyder Cut started playing.’
Fired: ‘@hbomax someone’s getting fired…Tom and Jerry this is not… #SnyderCut,’ Bass tweeted, along with a photo from the film where it says ‘directed by Zack Snyder’
He added that roughly an hour into the mini-series, he noticed the image definition had seriously degraded and he ultimately got an ‘error message’ before the film disappeared.
‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League was temporarily available on HBO Max and the error was addressed within minutes,’ read a statement from WarnerMedia, though Bass claims the film was available for at least an hour.
While he didn’t get to see the whole four-hour cut, Bass, who said he was never, ‘a huge DC movie fan,’ said he was impressed enough with what he saw to watch the full version when it’s officially released on March 18.
Error: He added that roughly an hour into the mini-series, he noticed the image definition had seriously degraded and he ultimately got an ‘error message’ before the film disappeared
‘I planned to watch it after the 18th at some point. But now I’m ready for the 18th,’ he said.
He also tweeted, ‘The CGI finally rivals that of Marvel and you’re gonna love it. That’s all I’m saying. No spoilers. Get excited.’
Bass later tweeted that Warner Bros. ordered Twitter to take down the image because it came from a ‘stolen clip’ of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which Bass didn’t exactly agree with.
CGI: He also tweeted, ‘The CGI finally rivals that of Marvel and you’re gonna love it. That’s all I’m saying. No spoilers. Get excited’
‘Really @wbpictures? “stolen clip” Is it stolen if I pressed play on a service I pay for and your service @hbomax provided the incorrect data stream? You should be more concerned with showing a rated R film when a PG film for kids was selected. #SnyderCut,’ Bass tweeted.
Zack Snyder was in the middle of directing Justice League when his daughter Autumn committed suicide at just 20 years of age.
The filmmaker left the project to be with his family, with Joss Whedon coming in and taking over production.
Stolen: ‘Really @wbpictures? “stolen clip” Is it stolen if I pressed play on a service I pay for and your service @hbomax provided the incorrect data stream? You should be more concerned with showing a rated R film when a PG film for kids was selected. #SnyderCut,’ Bass tweeted
Several other fans noticed the leak and reacted on Twitter, like @MOMO_ID_, who said, ‘Holy s**t the #SnyderCut got leaked hard my god people going to watch Tom and Jerry on HBO got Justice League…’
Another fan, @AzeemZafar, thought Warner Bros. leaked it on purpose, stating, ‘WB be like the Snyder Cut of Justice League is so s**t let’s leak it under Tom & Jerry’s name.’
@spillingthetrue added, ‘Snyder cut leaked and it’s terrible #snydercut zack snyder,’ along with a photo from the project.
Noticed: Several other fans noticed the leak and reacted on Twitter, like @MOMO_ID_, who said, ‘Holy s**t the #SnyderCut got leaked hard my god people going to watch Tom and Jerry on HBO got Justice League…’
Leaked: Another fan, @AzeemZafar, thought Warner Bros. leaked it on purpose, stating, ‘WB be like the Snyder Cut of Justice League is so s**t let’s leak it under Tom & Jerry’s name’
Terrible: @spillingthetrue added, ‘Snyder cut leaked and it’s terrible #snydercut zack snyder,’ along with a photo from the project
Justice League was a result of footage from both Snyder’s shoot and Whedon’s, which was bashed by critics and many fans alike.
Since its release in November 2017, fans have been clamoring for the ‘Snyder cut’ of Justice League to be released, with the studio finally bowing to immense fan pressure and allowing Snyder to finish what he started.
The studio reportedly spent $70 million on reshoots, with what was originally a two-hour theatrical film now expanded into a four-hour mini-series, debuting on HBO Max on March 18.
Reshoots: The studio reportedly spent $70 million on reshoots, with what was originally a two-hour theatrical film now expanded into a four-hour mini-series, debuting on HBO Max on March 18