According to new data, Zack Snyder's Justice League trailed behind other Warner Bros. releases on HBO Max this year.
When it comes to tracking the viewership of movies and TV shows that debut online, most streaming services have made things challenging by not revealing specific numbers. HBO Max is no different, which has left a variety of analytics companies and connected apps to sift through their data in order to paint a picture of a project's performance. Variety received exclusive access to two of these sets of data for a report on Godzilla vs. Kong, which showed the clash of the Titans besting all competition on HBO Max for 2021.
According to TVision, the MonsterVerse movie pulled in more viewers for HBO Max than any other release besides Wonder Woman 1984, which was the clear winner in both its debut week and the following week. For 2021, however, the Legendary Pictures co-production came out on top. The film handily beat Zack Snyder's Justice League, but the report notes that the release week for Judas and the Black Messiah also brought in more viewers than the DC film. You can see the points on the graph below which correspond to each release, and while Justice League isn't accounted for, it's clear that the spike at the end of last month is tied to the movie's Marc. 19 debut.
When it comes to HBO Max's viewership to date, not only was Justice League bested by Wonder Woman 1984 as well but the December launch of HBO Max on Roku actually brought more people to the streaming service than the long-awaited director's cut of the superhero epic.
Variety also received data from Reelgood, which looked at the three-day debut windows of the top 100 films being watched on HBO Max. Once again, Godzilla vs. Kong came out on top, with 8.1 percent of total viewership. Justice League was again in third, with only 6.3 percent of viewership during its debut window. This time, however, it fell behind The Little Things, which claimed 7.4 percent of audiences on HBO Max during its debut in January.
Despite the different metrics for measuring viewership, it's clear that Zack Snyder's Justice League was not nearly as anticipated as its vocal followers believed. While it certainly gave HBO Max a boost in subscribers, it failed to best less blockbuster-centered fare. Part of the reason could be the length, as a new report suggests less than half of viewers finished the film in its first week. Even more damning is that Justice League was exclusive to HBO Max, while Godzilla vs. Kong pulled in both big HBO Max numbers and broke the record for biggest domestic pandemic release in theaters.
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 currently available on HBO Max.
Source: Variety