Zack Snyder Reportedly Refused to Call Off Snyder Cut Fans From Review Bombing Godzilla vs. Kong
Back in March 2021, ahead of its domestic release, Godzilla vs. Kong was the target of review bombing by fans of Zack Snyder's Justice League. Members of the "Snyder Cut" campaign started hitting the film's IMDb page with 1-star reviews seemingly as part of an attack directed at Warner Bros. Now, a new report claims that Snyder refused to call off the fans posting the fake reviews.
According to Rolling Stone, Snyder was asked through an intermediary to ask fans to stand down and stop review bombing Adam Wingard's Godzilla vs. Kong. Per the report, Snyder refused to do so, though the report notes that Snyder claims he was never asked and added "Furthermore, I do not control my fans. They have their own will and their own opinions; you really give me too much credit." Warner Bros. reportedly was able to work with IMDb to get the false reviews weeded out.
The information about Snyder and the review bombing of Godzilla vs. Kong is part of a larger report about how a WarnerMedia report reveals that at least 13 percent of the accounts that were part of the viral Snyder Cut social media campaign were actually fake or bots, a number that is much higher than the three to five percent usually seen by cyber experts in any trending topic. The report also found that the fake accounts were involved in aspects of the campaign that spread negative and harmful content about WarnerMedia.
"After researching online conversations about the Snyder Cut of the Justice League's release, specifically the hashtags 'ReleaseTheSnyderCut' and 'RestoreTheSnyderVerse' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, [the analysts] detected an increase in negative activity created by both real and fake authors," the report concluded. "One identified community was made up of real and fake authors that spread negative content about WarnerMedia for not restoring the 'SnyderVerse.' Additionally, three main leaders were identified within the authors scanned on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram — one leader on each platform. These leaders received the highest amount of engagement and have many followers, which gives them the ability to influence public opinion."
As for Godzilla vs. Kong, the film had a strong launch on HBO Max when it arrived — at the time Warner Bros. was releasing films simultaneously in theaters and HBO Max due to the pandemic — and received generally positive reviews overall. A sequel was officially announced in March 2022, with the film's release date currently set for March 15, 2024.