As No Time To Die, F9, Dune and many others shift to 2021. Does WB and Patty Jenkins regret postponing Wonder Woman 1984 from 2019 to 2020?
As the whole World is trying to fight back the COVID-19 pandemic, the production houses are facing a tough dilemma. On one hand, there is an impending doom over the cinemas and business at large. Whereas, the release of ‘Tenet’ has made it clear to all the studios that the audience is not comfortable in thronging to the cinemas just yet. This lands Wonder Woman into further trouble as the movie looks at another delay.
Now, the studios face two possibilities. Either they take Disney’s ‘Mulan’ route and release the movie on an OTT platform, or they wait. As reported by the Washington Post, No Time To Die, Dune, etc. have been pushed to 2021 by the studios. But, one of the biggest releases of the WB and DC was Patty Jenkin’s Wonder Woman 1984. A movie that has was postponed from November 2019 to April 2020. But, was it WB’s worst mistake?
Why Wonder Woman 1984 Gets Delayed Again And Again??
Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot teamed up in WW84 for the second time after delivering a critical and commercial success with Wonder Woman in 2017. The Amazonian is one of the most known characters in the DC universe. In the current DCEU, Gal Gadot had debuted as the Wonder Woman in Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. In 2017, when WB was recuperating from the response to BVS, Wonder Woman gave them a flicker of hope. So naturally, the studios were betting similar expectations with the sequel as well.
Wonder Woman 1984, as the name suggests, is set in the 80s era. Starring Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman along with Kristen Wig as the feline nemesis Cheetah, the movie was initially slated for a November 2019 release. But, director Patty Jenkins was not comfortable with her cut by then, and she insisted on postponing the movie to the summer of 2020. To which Warner Bros. agreed and scheduled for June 5. Come 2020 the outbreak of the pandemic shut down theatres around the world and WW94 was moved to Aug. 14 and then further to Oct. 2.
Now, WB has listed Wonder Woman 84 for a Christmas release this year. But looking at the current global trends of the pandemic, it is highly unlikely. Film analysts believe that Wonder Woman’s summer release in June 2021, a year after its initial release would fair better.
Can Wonder Woman Get OTT Released On Streaming?
With the continuous postponement of the movie, there were rumours that maybe WB might look to release WW84 on their OTT platform, HBO Max. Earlier this year, in April, WB announced the Zack Snyder’s Justice League cut as a 4 episode series for HBO Max. This showed the level of seriousness the studio has to get their OTT platform up and running. Disney has also made similar decisions this year. Along with dedicated content for their streaming app Disney+, they have decided to launch Mulan on the streaming service.
The decision to release a big property on the streaming service by Disney did not go down well with the theatre owners. Now, there were similar speculations about WB doing this with WW84. But, Patty Jenkins recently put a full stop to all the rumours.
Even the studio seems to be favouring more for a theatrical release. WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey told Observer, “We’re still committed to putting some of the content we think is most important into a theatrical channel if that makes sense.” At the same time, he acknowledged the reality of the depressed marketplace and is “not expecting a huge recovery in theatrical. We’re expecting it to continue to be choppy.”
Watch: Patty Jenkins On ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Delays, Cinema Closures
Well, the possibility of the release of WW84 seems dull for this year. WB and Patty Jenkins would be regretting their decision to push the initial release. But, you never know, the Amazonian may just defeat the Coronavirus and bring back the Christmas at the movie halls.
As fans, we would love to watch Diana fight it out on the big screen with a complete and fulfilling experience. As for the OTT, we await the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League next year.
