Entertainment
Viewers Struggle to Complete Snyder Cut
In discussions with friends and family, the topic of movie lengths has frequently arisen. I believe that in the past, films tended to be briefer, usually clocking in at a concise 90 minutes. Nowadays, it seems that for a movie to be considered a major production, it must extend beyond the 2-hour mark. The release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max has solidified my view, though perhaps my assumption that audiences would always endure longer films wasn’t entirely accurate.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an astonishing four hours in duration. To put this into perspective, even Avengers: Endgame only lasted 3 hours. Therefore, the Snyder Cut is not just a film, but a commitment—one that some viewers are finding challenging to maintain. Data from the viewership monitoring platform Samba TV indicates that out of the 1.8 million HBO Max accounts that initiated the movie, only about a third completed the entire runtime.
The #SnyderCut existed in monochrome and was only shared with a limited audience for years.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League: #JusticeIsGray, a black and white rendition of the movie, is now streaming on @HBOMax in 4K UHD, HDR10, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos on compatible devices. pic.twitter.com/3c40221N27
— Zack Snyder’s Justice League (@snydercut) March 25, 2021
To clarify, this does not necessarily mean that viewers are abandoning the film entirely after the first hour (although some might be doing so). As explained by Jeffrey Silverman, director at Samba TV, their metric defines a “view” as an individual who watched at least the initial five minutes of the movie, and a “completion” as someone who watches the entire film without interruption. Several HBO Max users have mentioned that instead of dedicating an entire afternoon to watching the film in one sitting, they have chosen to view the movie’s six segments separately over several days, similar to a miniseries. These individuals watching in parts are not counted as distinct views, which may be distorting the statistics somewhat.
Experts suggest that it may take a few weeks, or even longer, to obtain an accurate assessment of the Snyder Cut’s true popularity. Hopefully, all those who have eagerly awaited its release over the past few years have taken the time to watch it in its entirety.