By now, given nearly every major theatrical release has fled 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the way its hobbled the theatrical experience, it’s been easy to predict that Warner Bros. will pull “Wonder Woman 1984,” the last major film left on the calendar, from 20202. And well, it turns out that’s correct. But a new dilemma has been faced for the company, release the film on a streaming network in the first quarter or wait until summer 2021.
That’s right, Variety reports that WB is mulling putting “Wonder Woman 1984” on HBO max in January. The other option is waiting until summer 2021, but even that’s not a guarantee, given the way COVID-19 continues to surge unprecedently and it if ravages the U.S. all winter, will things be safe by summer?
Part of the strategical thinking is HBO Max, which is definitely not doing the numbers that Warner Bros. hoped, especially when compared to the much mightier success of the recently launched Disney+. As Variety notes, “In its third quarter, WarnerMedia reported that HBO Max had 8.6 million total activations, with 38 million subscribers to HBO and HBO Max combined. While that exceeded expectations for the year, HBO Max still trails its competitors by considerable margins.”
While this would be a good way to goose HBO Max subscribers, there’s no guarantee they would stick around permanently. HBO is apparently considering a potential June release (bumping a New Line Cinema horror title) or July (delaying the new “Space Jam” movie with LeBron James). Evidently, nothing has been decided, but filmmaker Patty Jenkins has stressed her desire to release her movie on the big screen, though obviously, the final decision is above her paygrade. If the film does come out on HBO Max in January, it sounds like WB will release it theatrically regardless on December 25, but likely in what would be a very limited release given the way COVID has spiked and many theaters might be more compromised in six weeks.
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“Wonder Woman 1984” was originally scheduled to come out in December 2019. Then, Warner Bros. had a change of heart, pushed it to June 2020, and you know the rest of the story from there (multiple delays because of the pandemic). Directed by Patty Jenkins, much of the original cast—Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen— return, and are joined by newcomers and villains Kristen Wiig (The Cheetah) and Pedro Pascal (Maxwell Lord).