We learned late last night that WarnerMedia has opted not to delay Wonder Woman 1984 any longer, and will be releasing the highly anticipated sequel on the streaming service HBO Max this Christmas. But that doesn’t mean director Patty Jenkins has given up on the chance for fans to see the movie in theaters.
The filmmaker responsible for steering the first female-led superhero movie to over $800 million worldwide took to Twitter last night to reveal that a program is being worked out so that fans can safely rent out a movie theater to screen Wonder Woman 2 with their family, pod, or just themselves. While the sequel will be released on HBO Max on December 25th, it will also be released in theaters that are open the same day.
Theater chains like Cinemark and AMC Theaters have been offering people the opportunity to rent out an entire theater for prices like $99, to avoid having to sit in a dark room for two hours with strangers in the middle of a pandemic. And it sounds like Warner Bros. might be making the process to rent out a theater a bit easier on folks, should they feel safe to do so on Christmas.
Jenkins, a heavy proponent of theatrical releases, also noted that they plan to keep Wonder Woman 1984 in theaters “for quite a long time,” hoping that it’ll still be there once the COVID-19 vaccine is readily available and theaters around the world are open for good.
This still kinda stinks though. Wonder Woman 1984 was supposed to come out this summer, and no doubt would have been a massive worldwide hit had the world not been turned upside down. Plenty of studios (including Warner Bros.) have delayed their 2020 films to 2021, and I do kind of wish Warner Bros. had just held onto Wonder Woman 1984 until June or July 2021 so the film could have gotten the rollout it deserved.
It’ll certainly be a nice treat to watch this on Christmas, but this feels like the kind of moviegoing experience that benefits from being in a packed theater with a bunch of strangers, all enjoying the thrills and twists and turns together. And that’s just not possible right now.
You can read Jenkins’ full statement on the film’s new release strategy below, followed by star Gal Gadot’s statement on the matter. For a full list of upcoming DC movies, click here.
