Zack Snyder: "More People Probably Saw Rebel Moon Than Saw Barbie in the Theater"

Zack Snyder says that "more people" probably saw Rebel Moon at home than Barbie in theaters because of Netflix's platform. The Man of Steel filmmaker sat down on Joe Rogan's podcast this week, and he had a lot to say about a number of topics. Snyder had some massive praise for Netflix's infrastructure and the almost unfathomable scale of their viewership. His argument about Barbie's theater numbers isn't completely out of left-field. When you take into account every single person that clicked on Rebel Moon, it's conceivable that more people made that initial dive than Barbie's opening weekend. The whole run might get a little bit more murky.

"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," Snyder mused. "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?"

"That's how crazy Netflix is. That's the distribution model that they've set up. I was at this thing the other day and we were talking about Rebel Moon 2. And they were like, 'Well, talk about Rebel Moon the first one.' I'm like, 'No, go fucking watch it. I know you have it at your house.' It's not like a theater situation," Snyder argued. "You could turn it on your phone right now and watch it right here if you wanted. That's how crazy it is. This model, this machine they've built is really something else. It's really crazy if you think about it."

How Well Did Rebel Moon Do For Netflix?

While people online might make jokes about Rebel Moon, the Snyder movie was the #1 most-watched movie twice in 2023. That's a wild 23.9 million views via the streaming service's own metrics. That kind of success is why Netflix is giving Snyder Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver. As long as people keep showing up, there's going to be a place for the director to keep telling stories.

"It's been a truly unparalleled experience introducing Rebel Moon to global audiences and I'm thrilled that the movie is #1 around the world," Snyder wrote after Rebel Moon's streaming debut set the platform ablaze. "We have the most dedicated and loyal fans across the world that any filmmaker could ask for, and seeing them consistently be supportive has been an enormously rewarding experience."

The Critical Response To Rebel Moon

While fans really enjoyed the latest Zack Snyder movie, critics were not exactly kind. The creative team behind the film has heard some of that noise. Variety interviewed Kurt Johnstad, the writer of Rebel Moon. The scribe had to talk about that 24% Rotten Tomatoes score. They all realize that critics have a job to do and there's some respect for it. However, audiences decide what's successful in the long run.

"I don't read the reviews, I never have. Critics have a job to do. We live in a democracy. Everybody gets to vote," Johnstad told Variety. "If people watch the film, they'll have an experience, and they will either enjoy it or they won't. It's flavors of ice cream. In my career of 20 years doing this, reviews have never equated to performance. A movie will either perform or it won't." 

"People will either love it and be connected to it, and I think what this movie has is an emotional drive and a core and characters that are vulnerable," he pointed out. "And of course, there's sequence and action and visual -- it's a magnificent-looking film. But I think that at the core of it, it's got emotion. There's an emotional engine and a currency that runs through the film that I think works, so I'd invite people to check it out."

Do you think more people watched Rebel Moon than Barbie? Let us know down in the comments!