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The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement will go down as a success story in film history, as following several years of campaigning, Warner Bros announced that Zack Snyder’s definitive vision for Justice League take would be released to the public. It’s now been weeks since Zack Snyder’s Justice League hit HBO Max, and it’s been enjoying much better critical reception overall compared to the theatrical cut of Justice League. However, in terms of viewing data, it seems as though the Snyder Cut isn’t the big win for HBO Max that some have assumed.
According to data shared to Variety from TVision, which extrapolates viewership data of around 25,000 titles across roughly 5,000 households and 14,000 individuals in the United States, Zack Snyder’s Justice League drew a smaller streaming share than fellow HBO Max offerings Wonder Woman 1984, Judas and the Black Messiah and Godzilla vs. Kong. Aside from Wonder Woman 1984, which came out towards the end of last December, the other three movies all arrived on within a roughly one and a half month period, with Judas and the Black Messiah and Godzilla vs. Kong also running in theaters, whereas Zack Snyder’s Justice League is being kept strictly on HBO Max (for now).
As a visual reference, take a look at the below graph showing how Wonder Woman 1984, Judas and the Black Messiah and Godzilla vs. Kong did so you can get an idea of approximately where Zack Snyder’s Justice League ranks.
Keep in mind, this information is coming from a third-party analytics source rather than directly from HBO Max, so these numbers can’t be considered official. Plus, TVision is just one of many firms that analyze streaming data, so it’s possible that these other sources have reached different conclusions. Nevertheless, assuming the above information is accurate, while one shouldn’t necessarily classify Zack Snyder’s Justice League as a bomb for HBO Max, it doesn’t bode well that it falls in fourth place among the platform’s biggest recent offerings. It’s particularly notable that Godzilla vs. Kong outperformed the Snyder Cut considering that the former has only been out a week, while the latter has been up for nearly a month.
One thing that might not have helped with snagging viewers for Zack Snyder’s Justice League was the running time. While Justice League’s theatrical cut clocked in at exactly two hours, the Snyder Cut is a little over four and a half hours long. The original plan was for Zack Snyder’s Justice League to air as a miniseries, but that was later scrapped, though the movie is divided into chapters that provide easy stopping places for those wishing to spread out the viewing experience. Still, that doesn’t mean everyone who started watching Zack Snyder’s Justice League necessarily finished it, and then you take into account that apparently less people clicked play on it than some might have anticipated.
Make no mistake, the fact that Zack Snyder’s Justice League made its way to HBO Max is an impressive accomplishment, as there was a time when such a prospect was repeatedly shot down. That being said, if Zack Snyder’s Justice League isn’t performing exceptionally on the streaming service, that’s definitely not going to help the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse movement, which is championing for Snyder to be able to finish his DCEU saga with the two Justice League sequels. Granted, WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff has already said that there are no plans to continue Snyder’s Justice League trilogy, but this viewership data could act as further reasoning for why it’s not worth exploring more of the filmmaker’s Elseworlds-like canon.
If you want to improve the chances of the SnyderVerse being restored, especially on HBO Max, make sure to sign up for the streaming service with our special deal and watch Zack Snyder’s Justice League in its entirety. For those of you more interested in the theatrical DCEU film slate, learn what’s on the way in our upcoming DC movies guide.
