Barbie stunned everyone last year, becoming the 14th highest-grossing movie at the worldwide box office with $1.4 billion. The film turned into one of those rare cultural events where moviegoers showed up to the theater decked out in pink outfits and couldn't stop saying "hi Barbie!" to each other.
With all that being said, can anyone confidently say Barbie reached a wider audience than, say, the widely-panned Zack Snyder movie Rebel Moon? Snyder doesn't think so.
The filmmaker recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience where he discussed the global reach of Netflix, the distributor behind his latest film.
"You think about Netflix, for instance, where you push a button," Snyder said. "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."
"So you think if that movie was in the theater as a distribution model, that's like 160 million people supposedly watching based on that math," he continued. "160 million people at $10 a ticket would be…what is that math? I don’t know. 160 million times ten. That's $1.6 billion. So more people probably saw Rebel Moon than saw Barbie in the theater, right?"
Barbie bagged $1.44 billion globally.
While you can dispute math, it's hard to deny Netflix's reach. According to a study by Forbes Home, the platform has just over 260 million subscribers as of February 2024. The United States and Canada account for nearly 31 percent of that total, and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa make up another 34 percent.
The next closest competitor is Amazon Prime Video with just over 200 million users, but one can't help but wonder what that number would be if Amazon Prime and the streaming service weren't a package deal.
That same study found that Americans are viewing streaming digital media for three hours and nine minutes each day on average. With more and more people cord-cutting, viewers are more than likely turning to Netflix as a substitute for traditional TV. If Rebel Moon is splashed across your screen for a week, you're probably going to give it shot.
What do you have to lose? It's better to watch a terrible movie at home than live with the regret of not only taking a trip to your nearest movie theater but also losing $20 in the process. At least Netflix has the consideration to take that same amount from your bank every month like a thief in the night.
"That’s how crazy Netflix is," Snyder said. "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," the DC veteran added. "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."
A look at Netflix's most-watched movies of all time tells you all you need to know about its audience interests. The film does not necessarily need to be Oscar-worthy to be a huge draw on the platform. According to Collider, Red Notice leads the pack with 230 million views despite a Rotten Tomatoes score of 37 percent. Don't Look Up came in second, even with a 55 percent score.
Rebel Moon is currently on Netflix, but if you have the streamer, you probably knew that already. Better yet, you probably saw it—or at least some of it.
