Zack Snyder Mocked For Remarks On Barbie Viewership, Says More People Saw Rebel Moon

Zack Snyder’s recent remarks about Barbie have raised eyebrows on social media. During his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, the director discussed the impact of Netflix’s film distribution on audience reach compared to traditional theatres. While speaking on the same, he claimed that “more people probably saw Rebel Moon than saw Barbie in theatre”.

Zack Snyder’s remarks on Barbie viewership raises eyebrows 

The Greta Gerwig helmed and Margot Robbie led pink fantasia emerged as the highest Hollywood grosser for the year, followed by Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer. Zack’s remarks come a few days before Oscar Awards 2024. While speaking on the podcast, he said, “You think about Netflix, for instance, where you push a button. ‘Rebel Moon,’ right? Say right now it’s almost at 90 million views, right? 80 or 90 million accounts turned it on, give or take. They assume two viewers per screening, right? That’s the kind of math.”

Elaborating on the same, he added, “So you think if that movie was in the theater as a distribution model, that’s like 160,000,000 people supposedly watching based on that math. 160,000,000 people at $10 a ticket would be…what is that math? I don’t know. 160,000,000 times ten. That’s 1.6 billion. So more people probably saw ‘Rebel Moon’ than saw ‘Barbie’ in the theater, right?”

He brought up Netflix’s ongoing documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive as another example as he noted that the streaming giant was able to take a more niche sport in America like Formula 1 and make it a bonanza for all its viewers.

More about Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s Barbie 

Margot and Ryan’s movie has even earned eight Oscar nominations. On the other hand, the Rebel Moon faced mixed opinions from the critics and did not secure any nominations in the awards category. Amid all the chatter, Greta, recently in a conversation during the Time's Women of the Year celebrations, hinted towards the possibility of a Barbie sequel, being very much on the cards - though not any time soon. The director shared how while the prospect of reuniting with the team to enter their carefully crafted universe was rather exciting, it would only become reality if she happened to find the right story. 

She said, "It will only happen when she comes across the right story. If I find the undertow, then we get it. If I don’t find an undertow, there’s no more...It’s something that I loved making so much. And I loved the world that we built so much and all of the actors and the idea of getting to be with that group of people again is very exciting."