Third-party streaming ratings firm Samba TV has announced that “Godzilla vs. Kong” has proven the biggest hit of HBO Max to date.
According to their statistics, 3.6 million U.S. households watched at least five minutes of the film in its first five days on the site from March 31st – April 4th. That beats the 2.2 million who tuned in for “Wonder Woman 1984” and 1.8 million for “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”.
Samba TV only polls viewers from terrestrial smart TVs and even then only from select ones – totalling 13.5 million globally as of last report (though they have announced deals to more than triple that footprint).
Nevertheless, the data supports WarnerMedia Direct-to-Consumer EVP Andy Forssell that the film “had a larger viewing audience than any other film or show on HBO Max since launch.”
The large viewing on the cabler was matched by the strong box-office with “Godzilla vs. Kong” grossing $48.1 million domestically and nearly $300 million globally.
The numbers have already generated divisive analyst think pieces – some lamenting the idea the film could’ve made more money had it been exclusively theatrical, others that this proves the day-and-date model works and streaming can co-exist with cinemas simultaneously.
Unfortunately, there is no way to cleanly prove either argument, but the positives can’t be ignored and Wall Street has noticed with exhibitor stock rising in morning trade today, even as only 55% of movie theaters in the country have reopened and a key market like New York is still stuck at 25% capacity.
Source: Variety