In what Warner Bros./DC execs will take as a very good omen, the trailer for Justice League has beaten out the competition to become the most viewed trailer on YouTube this year (to date). In a useful report tabulated by Box Office Mojo, it clocked up an impressive 105m views, with the runners-up being Thor: Ragnarok (97m), Spider-Man: Homecoming (94m), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (85m) and Wonder Woman (84m).
This is great news for Justice League. Most obviously, it shows that audiences are aware and engaged with the film, having cared enough to click through and get a taste of what it’s serving up. Not only that, but with a strong lead in positive ratings, viewers are apparently liking what they’ve seen. Theoretically, this indicates a solid opening weekend for Justice League (current projections are at $110-$120m, which isn’t bad at all).
But for this particular tentpole, box office is only part of the picture. Warner Bros. and DC were clearly stung by the critical mauling that greeted Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, and for Justice League to follow in their footsteps and end up with a Rotten Tomatoes rating somewhere in the 20s would reverse out much of the progress made by Wonder Woman (not to mention probably killing that film’s Oscar campaign).
Who knows what the chart will look like by the end of the year, though. You’ve got to assume that once The Last Jedi marketing campaign goes into its final push, the views on its trailers are going to go into hyperspace. At least for now though, DC’s superhero team-up is comfortably out on top. And we’ll know in just a fortnight whether that will indeed translate into the bona fide hit that Warner Bros./DC are hoping for with Justice League.
