The pandemic has claimed yet another film, and not surprisingly, it’s once again ‘Wonder Woman 1984′. The film has been delayed multiple times now. It was originally meant for November 2019, then pushed to June 5th, then August, then October, and now, Variety and others have confirmed that it’ll release on Christmas Day.
Warner Bros spoke about this:
“Patty is an exceptional filmmaker and with ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ she has delivered an incredibly dynamic film that moviegoers of all ages around the world will absolutely love,” said Toby Emmerich, Warmer Bros. Motion Picture Group chairman. “We’re very proud of the film and look forward to bringing it to audiences for the holidays.”
Director Patty Jenkins added, “First and foremost let me say how much Gal and I love all our devoted Wonder Woman fans around the world, and your excitement for ‘WW84’ couldn’t make us happier or more eager for you to see the movie. Because I know how important it is to bring this movie to you on a big screen when all of us can share the experience together, I’m hopeful you won’t mind waiting just a little bit longer. With the new date on Christmas Day, we can’t wait to spend the holidays with you!”
The reason behind this delay is infinitely obvious. While SOME theaters have opened up all over the world, including the United States, many more…haven’t. The “test run” if you will, was the WB film Tenet by Christopher Nolan. Which has made so far a bit above $160 million worldwide with limited showings. Given that Wonder Woman 1984 was supposed to open in a few weeks, it would be very fair to say that the money made wouldn’t have matched up to expectations as MANY feel this film in a non-pandemic world would’ve gotten $1 billion dollars easily.
Ironically, moving it to December follows the path of what Aquaman did in 2018 when IT made a billion dollars. Plus, should things truly take a turn and theaters reopen to greater capacity, many no doubt will flood to the theater to see Wonder Woman.
Of course, now the question is whether Marvel will do the same for Black Widow in terms of another delay as it’s scheduled for a November release.