The power of Wonder Woman brought out movie fans over the Christmas holiday, despite the ongoing pandemic.
On Dec. 25, Warner Bros. Pictures released “Wonder Woman 1984,” starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine and Kristin Wiig in theaters and through the HBO Max streaming service in a historic dual premiere in the U.S. market.
The superhero flick put up a good fight against the pandemic’s closure of thousands of movie theaters around the country. Variety reported “Wonder Woman 1984” pulled in $16.7 million from 2,100 North American theaters — the best movie opening during the COVID-19 era.
In addition to the theatrical release, HBO Max said about half of its 12.6 million active users watched “Wonder Woman 1984” on opening day, Variety reported.
“‘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, head of WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer business, said in a press release, which Warner Media quoted in a Facebook post. “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.”
Thanks to the success of the latest Wonder Woman movie, Warner Bros. Pictures announced the decision to fast-track development for a third movie in the series.
“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 to continue her story with our real-life Wonder Women — Gal and Patty — who will return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy,” Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich said in the press release.
Both Gal Gadot and writer and director Patty Jenkins are already confirmed for the third installment of the “Wonder Woman” series. However, little is known about the newest movie, because Jenkins has yet to finish the script. So, we’ll have to wait to see if Diana/Wonder Woman and Barbara Minerva/Cheetah square off against one another once again.
In the meantime, Wonder Woman fans can catch the Amazonian warrior and her Lasso of Truth in the upcoming HBO Max movie four-part series of the Zack Snyder cut of “Justice League.” The first movie is scheduled to debut on the streaming service sometime in 2021.
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