“Wonder Woman 1984” Will Hit Theaters And HBO Max On Christmas Day
It looks like we’ll finally all get to see the much-anticipated and constantly delayed release of Wonder Woman 1984, the sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman. And you don’t even have to leave the comfort (and safety) of your own home to do it. That’s because Warner Bros. announced that WW84 will be dropping in theaters on Christmas Day, as previously promised, but it will also premiere on HBO Max. I guess I should have been more specific when I said we’ll all finally get to see it. Technically you’re gonna have to have an HBO Max subscription, or enough charm and charisma to butter up a friend who will give you their log-in and password info. Hey, it’s the holidays – it’s the least they can do, right?
Initially WW84 was scheduled to be released in theaters in summer 2020, but of course the COVID-19 pandemic struck and closed all the theaters down, pushing movie releases to the end of the year, and beyond, with some into the TBD mystery zone I like to call 2021-ish. And it looked like WW84 was also going to see a 2021-ish release date, but Warner Bros. has decided to stick to their December 25th, 2020 release date, but they’re also dumping it on HBO Max. The Hollywood Reporter says that Warner Bros. made the announcement yesterday, which can kind of be distilled down into the PR version of, “Yeah, we know you’re not gonna risk your life for this.”
The Witches also got an HBO Max premiere, and the live-action Mulan dropped on Disney+. Big studios likely know that limiting their release to theaters-only is a dumb move, since theaters are hurting. How badly are they hurting? Let’s just say they’ve officially reached the point of pulling desperate stunts. And obviously Warner Bros. needs to do whatever they need to do to keep from losing too much money. For example, the first Wonder Woman made $821.8 million on an estimated budget of $150 million. WW84 had an estimated budget of $200 million. The biggest movie at the box office since COVID hit has been Tenet, which grossed a whopping $56.3 million in domestic ticket sales (it did much better overseas, with about $300 million). So, go ahead and call me a psychic, but I don’t predict WW84 could have made another $821.8 million.
Patty Jenkins confirmed the news:
I can't wait for the world to see this amazing woman on the screen. She'll blow your mind and warm your heart. @GalGadot killed it in this film, and she does all that great and hard work for only the most honorable reasons. She is a true #Wonderwoman so I hope you enjoy #WW84 https://t.co/Q7fYuNAEab
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) November 19, 2020
And Gal assured everyone that theaters are safe:
“It’s time. We’ve all waited a long time for this one to come. I can’t tell you how excited I am for all of you to see this movie. It wasn’t an easy decision and we never thought we’d have to hold onto the release for such a long time but COVID rocked all our worlds. We feel the movie has never been so relevant and we hope that it’ll bring some joy, hope and love to your hearts. Wonder Woman 1984 is a special one for me and I can only hope it’ll be as special to you too. We’ve put our hearts and souls into it. So.. you can watch it in theaters (they’re doing an amazing job keeping it safe) and you can watch it on HBO Max from your homes. Sending you my love. Please keep safe and wear a mask. Happy holidays to all of us! Let the light shine in.”
Thankfully this announcement didn’t come with a single reference to Gal’s “Imagine” cover. And although that cover still makes me cringe, I’ll admit – I would have gotten a bit of a kick out of her sing-explaining that you no have to imagine the release of WW84. “You may saaaaay…$14.99 a month is too much money, but that’s pretty cheap for HBO. You can watch the sequel to Wonder Woman, located in the menu bar between Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Sopranos.”
Pic: YouTube