Wonder Woman 1984 is reportedly set to lose its Christmas release date. With most cinemas in the US’ biggest markets (New York and Los Angeles) and most of Western Europe (now in a second lockdown) closed, Warner Bros. and the Wonder Woman 1984 team — star Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins, who are also producers on the DC film — are planning where next to take the Wonder Woman sequel. The report suggests that June 2021 is a “logical” spot, as the first film opened in that month, and Wonder Woman 1984 was set for June 2020 before COVID-19 began playing spoilsport.
Deadline brings word of Wonder Woman 1984 losing its release date for what be the fourth time during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — and the sixth overall. The studio must decide soon as to not lose money on prints and advertising, Deadline notes. Big blockbuster movies like Wonder Woman 1984 usually kick off their marketing campaigns six weeks before release date. With the Wonder Woman sequel slated for Christmas Day on December 25, that would put it around November 13 next week.
There’s contrasting info on the probability of Wonder Woman 1984 ending up on pay-per-view. Cinema exhibitor insiders told Deadline that Warner Bros. has “flirted” with the idea of releasing the movie online 17–21 days after premiering it in theatres, while studio insiders claimed there is “no such plan in the works”, given the first Wonder Woman movie made over $800 million at the box office. That said, even if Wonder Woman 1984 does go to pay-per-view, this would not necessarily apply to India.
If — or more likely when, as it seems — Wonder Woman 1984 does move, it would clear out the Hollywood year-end release calendar with it. Deadline says Disney is expected to pull both of its 20th Century Studios movies, Ryan Reynolds-led Free Guy (currently slated for December 11) and Agatha Christie adaptation Death on the Nile (December 18, it also stars Gadot), if Wonder Woman 1984 vacates its Christmas window.
Universal Pictures might keep Tom Hanks-starrer News of the World for Christmas because of a unique deal with AMC Theaters, America’s biggest cinema chain, which allows the studio to release the film on pay-per-view 17 days after debuting it in theatres. Additionally, Sony Pictures’ Monster Hunter (December 30) will remain in place because cinemas in China and most of Asia are open. Monster Hunter is slated to release in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu on December 30.
Wonder Woman 1984 is expected to move to June 4, 2021, where Warner Bros. currently has The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. If it picks that date, the Wonder Woman sequel will open a week after the next Fast and Furious movie F9, which recently moved to the end of May, and a week prior to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (June 11, 2021).
