Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot Reteaming For Wonder Woman 3

Wonder Woman 1984’s pandemic release appears to be a success, with the studio announcing a third film with Patty Jenkins & Gal Gadot on the way. Warner Bros. Pictures announced on Sunday that they had put a third film in the franchise on a fast-track development with Jenkins returning to write and direct while Gadot will of course be back as the titular heroine.

The news comes two days after the film released day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max. The movie grossed $16.7 million domestically and $85 million globally thus far. While those numbers may sound awful (the first Wonder Woman nailed down $103.2 million in its first weekend on domestic alone), these are obviously not normal times. The $16.7 million domestic start is a record for films since theaters reopened in August under careful COVID-19 protocols. Theater capacity is limited to half available seating in most markets and even then, only 39% of US theaters are currently open with closures in most top markets like New York, L.A., Chicago, Boston, and others. Canada is even worse at 5% of theaters, repping 3% of total potential Canadian box office. Wonder Woman 1984 played in over 2,100 limited capacity theaters compared to the first film’s 4,165 theaters at 100% capacity.

WarnerMedia has yet to reveal specifics on their HBO Max release, though they did note in their announcement that “nearly half of the platform’s retail subscribers viewing the film on the day of its arrival, along with millions of wholesale subscribers who have access to HBO Max via a cable, wireless, or other partner services.”

The announcement also noted that HBO Max had triple the viewing hours of a typical day on Friday. Those are numbers that would, spin-free, ostensibly make any streaming service happy. Without more specific details it’s hard to know for sure what it means, though the fast-tracking of a new film in the expensive franchise has to be a good sign.

“Wonder Woman 1984 broke records and exceeded our expectations across all of our key viewing and subscriber metrics in its first 24 hours on the service, and the interest and momentum we’re seeing indicates this will likely continue well beyond the weekend,” said Andy Forssell, Executive Vice President and General Manager, WarnerMedia Direct-to-Consumer. “During these very difficult times, it was nice to give families the option of enjoying this uplifting film at home, where theater viewing wasn’t an option.”

It is not known whether the third Wonder Woman film will also be a day-and-date release. WarnerMedia has been specific about their strategy to release films on HBO Max and in theaters as a 2021 thing only, though some in the industry have wondered if that genie can be put back in the bottle. One would imagine that either the film is heading to theaters first or WarnerMedia has upped their compensatory efforts for Jenkins, as she said last week she was uncertain if she would do the planned third film if there was no theatrical model.

“As fans around the world continue to embrace Diana Prince, driving the strong opening weekend performance of Wonder Woman 1984, we are excited to be able continue her story with our real life Wonder Women – Gal and Patty – who will return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy,” said Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

You can check out our own Rob Stewart’s review of the film here.