Theater Owners Expect Another 'Wonder Woman 1984' Delay; WB Isn't Considering Shortened Theatrical Window

It’s now November, which means two things. First, there’s Thanksgiving and my annual campaign to convince people that Denis Villeneuve’sPrisoners” is the best Thanksgiving film of all time. And second, the Christmas holiday is right around the corner. And normally, if you’re a theater owner, this means you’re almost guaranteed big box office sales and tons of quality films from all the major studios. But this year, as we’ve seen in almost every other facet of the film industry due to COVID-19, is very different. And it’s not hyperbolic to say that the fate of the 2020 holiday film season rests on the shoulders of “Wonder Woman 1984.”

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According to a new report from Deadline, there is a general consensus among theater owners that this holiday season is going to feature a lump of coal under the Christmas tree, as many as expecting news from Warner Bros. that “Wonder Woman 1984” is being delayed, yet again. The report claims that WB is going to heavily discuss the idea of releasing ‘WW84’ on Christmas Day, as is intended, or perhaps push the film deep into 2021.

Obviously, WB has to take into account the current COVID-19 stats, as the US continues to break records for numbers of infections, but it’s not the US alone that is causing concern. Western Europe is also seeing quite a few countries go back into lockdown, with cinemas being closed. So, WB is now trying to figure out if it’s financially feasible to release a potentially billion-dollar blockbuster when the US theaters are struggling and there’s no way of knowing if the rest of the world will be any better.

READ MORE: Patty Jenkins Is “Very Hopeful” ‘WW84’ Will Open This Year: “It Feels Totally Possible”

And the report claims that this week is the big week to decide, as the studio would typically begin its big marketing push for Christmas films before the Thanksgiving holiday. So, if WB is going to release the film, we’ll need to start seeing ads for ‘WW84’ during TV shows and whatnot beginning really soon.

All that to say, the odds are that WB is going to delay the film and theater owners are bracing for that reality. They’re also assuming that films such as “Free Guy” and “Death on the Nile” are going to vacate their December dates, as well, if “Wonder Woman 1984” is delayed. That would mean that outside of “The Croods 2” (which is releasing on Thanksgiving and will have a shortened theatrical window due to the deal between Universal and AMC), there won’t be any major studio films this holiday season.

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Now, an added wrinkle to the story is the fact that WB is apparently not interested, at all, in shortening the release window for “Wonder Woman 1984” and putting the film on PVOD shortly after its theatrical debut. With PVOD numbers being relatively solid, there’s still no way for a billion-dollar film to recoup what it could in a typical theatrical market. So, Warner Bros. isn’t going to release ‘WW84’ in theaters this Christmas and then three weekends later, let it go to PVOD. Deadline says the studio isn’t even considering that idea.

TL;DR – We can fully expect a new delay for “Wonder Woman 1984,” followed by delays of the rest of the holiday film schedule, in the coming days. And this might very well be catastrophic for a theatrical release business that is struggling to keep their doors open right now anyway.