Before Marvel’s “Black Panther” seemed to overshadow everything that about cinematic superheroes that came before when it premiered earlier this year, back in 2017 the major achiever in the genre was Warner Bros. and DC, when they released “Wonder Woman”, the first big-budget feature film take on perhaps the most famous super-heroine in the world. It was certainly carried aloft by the acting prowess of lead star Gal Gadot and her leading guy Chris Pine. Fans were eagerly awaiting the promised sequel, “Wonder Woman 1984” that was due to premiere late next year. But the wait will be taking longer.
See, as The Hollywood Reporter tells it, Warner and DC have decided to delay the release of “Wonder Woman 1984” from its original date in November 2019 to June of 2020, seven months later. Then again, that time of the year was the same time frame occupied by the original movie over a year ago. Gal Gadot herself broke the news on her personal Twitter page on Monday, October 22. WB president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein corroborated the rescheduling in an official statement, explaining that the move was done in light of the changing competitive landscape in film premieres.
“We had tremendous success releasing the first Wonder Woman film during the summer,” Goldstein remarked. “This move lands the film exactly where it belongs.” To elaborate, the original November 2019 premiere date for “Wonder Woman 1984” comes mere weeks after another Warner-DC super (villain) film, “Joker” starring Joachim Phoenix, arrives in cinemas on October of the same year. Bad enough that the two films will accidentally compete for box office numbers, but Disney’s own sequel to their 2013 epic hit “Frozen” will also land too close for comfort. In June 2020, “Wonder Woman 1984” will have opening weekend without competition.
The DC Extended Universe “Wonder Woman” sequel, as hinted by its chronological subtitle, takes place between the first appearance of Diana of Themyscira (Gadot) in World War I, and resurgence during “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in “present times” (circa 2016). Patty Jenkins also returns to the director’s chair for this new outing which sees Diana during the “cool decade” of the eighties, pondering how and why her brief boyfriend Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) is alive once more. Furthermore, she must face a new adversary in British archaeologist Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristen Wiig) who is transformed by an ancient goddess into a humanoid Cheetah.
“Wonder Woman” in 2017 was the most successful film featuring a female superhero lead character and female director. It has since become the 8th-highest grossing superhero movie stateside, with a total $821.8 million global earning.
Image courtesy of Highlight Hollywood
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