The Snyder Cut may be a hit, but it couldn’t quite beat out the Amazon.
New data indicates that Zack Snyder’s Justice League premiere on HBO Max had a huge debut that outdid The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s premiere. Yet it still couldn’t top the HBO Max debut of Wonder Woman 1984.
The numbers
Trying to discover the exact viewership of Justice League is tricky as, like other streaming services, HBO Max does not reveal their precise viewing numbers.
Samba TV specializes in tracking the numbers of streaming shows by polling terrestrial Smart TVs to see who is viewing what and when.
The company concluded that 1.8 million viewers tuned in to at least the first five minutes of Justice League. This places it above the 1.7 million who saw the premiere of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
However, this is still behind the 2.2 million U.S. households who watched the premiere of Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas Day. According to Samba’s data, that movie clocked in a total of 3.03 million households within its first week.
Further breakdowns indicate that the strongest areas for watching Justice League were in California, with San Francisco (+67%), Sacramento (+33%), and Los Angeles (+32%).
Length and reactions
Indeed, this may not show the full scope of those who did, in fact, watch the film as many may not have tuned in for the premiere but a later airing or began watching after the five-minute window. This also only takes into account U.S. viewers, not international numbers.
Some factors play into why Wonder Woman 1984 did better than Justice League despite that film also premiering in theaters at the same time. For one, Wonder Woman 1984 was a family-friendly film rather than the R-rated Snyder Cut.
There’s also how Wonder Woman 1984’s running time was two and a half hours while the Snyder Cut was over four. The longer running time might have meant more viewers pausing the film for breaks.
Wonder Women 1984 was released at noon Eastern Standard Time on Christmas Day, whereas Justice League premiered at 3 a.m. on March 18.
It should also be noted that at the time of Wonder Woman 1984’s release, much of the United States was under strict restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This affected the usual holiday travel plans as well theaters being completely closed in several states, meaning far more movie fans were at home and so ready to view the film immediately.
These are early numbers, and it’s possible Snyder’s Justice League ended up pulling in more viewers beyond its weekend premiere. Still, the strong numbers showcase how many were eager to see this long-awaited project as soon as it finally debuted.
Justice League the Snyder Cut now streaming on HBO Max.