Zack Snyder says more people have probably seen REBEL MOON than BARBIE in the theater

Zack Snyder recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience to discuss a variety of topics. While talking about his science fiction epic Rebel moon, which was released on Netflix. he says “probably” more people watched his movie than saw Barbie in theaters.

He explained the magic of Netflix and the numbers behind it all, saying:

“You think about Netflix, for example, where you press a button. Rebel moon, right? Let’s say it’s almost 90 million views right now, right? 80 or 90 million accounts have activated it, more or less. They assume two viewers per screening, right? That’s the kind of math. So you think if that movie was in theaters as a distribution model, that would be about 160,000,000 people presumably watching it based on those calculations. 160,000,000 people at 10 dollars a ticket would be… what is this calculation? I do not know. 160,000,000 times ten. That’s 1.6 billion. So probably more people have seen Rebel Moon than Barbie in the cinema, right?”

Barbie grossed $1.446 billion at the global box office, so by Snyder’s calculations of $10 a ticket, that would mean approximately 144,600,000 people paid to see Barbie in theaters. Snyder went on to brag about Netflix’s distribution model, saying:

“It’s just so crazy Netflix. This is the distribution model they created. I was at this thing the other day and we were talking about Rebel Moon 2. And they were like, “Well, let’s 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. You could turn it on right now on your phone and watch it here if you wanted. It’s so crazy. This model, this car that they built, is really something else. It’s really crazy when you think about it.”

Snyder is obviously very happy with Netflix, where he has created a couple of film franchises with Army of the Dead and Rebel Moon. He obviously he will exalt it.

However, the biggest difference between Rebel moon AND Barbie they are the reviews. Rebel moon it had a critics score of 21% and an audience score of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. Barbie it has a critics score of 88% and an audience score of 83%. So by Snyder’s calculations, more people tuned in to be disappointed by his film than to like it.

Look, I’m actually a fan of a lot of Snyder’s work. He has mastered the visual cinema style, he just needs to work on strengthening the narrative, writing and character development.