WW84 Was More Watched Than Justice League Snyder Cut New Data Suggests
New data suggests Wonder Woman 1984 was watched by more households in its opening weekend than Zack Snyder's Justice League. To highlight just how strange the past year has been for moviegoing, two of the biggest superhero movies in recent memory both had streaming debuts. Wonder Woman 1984 was supposed to arrive in theaters last year, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed it too many times. To prevent the film from suffering any additional pushbacks, Warner Bros. opted to release Wonder Woman 1984 in theaters on Christmas Day, as well as on HBO Max. The dual theatrical/streaming release quickly became Warner Bros.' new normal for 2021 to cope with the ongoing pandemic.
Meanwhile, Zack Snyder's Justice League was never intended to debut in theaters; in fact, it was never supposed to be released at all. Fans campaigned to see Snyder's finished cut of Justice League for years following the director's departure in the middle of filming, and Warner Bros. finally opted to send it to HBO Max. The famed Snyder Cut hit the streaming service last week and has effectively dominated the online conversation ever since.
Since streaming figures are harder to work out, it hasn't been abundantly clear as to how well Justice League performed in its first weekend. However, thanks to new data from Samba TV (via Deadline), it's reported that while the Snyder Cut had a massive debut, it wasn't bigger than Wonder Woman 1984. According to Samba TV, Justice League's first five minutes drew 1.8 million households over the March 19-21 premiere weekend. By comparison, Wonder Woman 1984's first five minutes were watched by 2.2 million households in its December 25-27 weekend. It's said Samba TV polls terrestrial smart TVs.
As only the first five minutes are really polled, it remains to be seen how many people watched the entirety of either film. Aside from that, there are several factors that likely contributed to Wonder Woman 1984 topping Justice League. For one thing, the Snyder Cut boasts a lengthy runtime of 4-hours, which could have put off those who were less invested. Additionally, it holds an R rating while Wonder Woman 1984 was a more family-friendly PG-13. Plus, it looks like Samba TV didn't include Justice League's first day, as it began streaming on Thursday, March 18.
This data shouldn't discredit Justice League's success. There's no question that many people flocked to the Snyder Cut over the weekend, and more will surely check it out in the coming weeks. The critical consensus toward Justice League has been generally positive, with many fans expressing their happiness at finally seeing Snyder's finished film. Yes, the data puts Wonder Woman 1984 on top, but Justice League still had a great weekend, and that's no small feat.
Source: Samba TV (via Deadline)