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Six weeks before the scheduled opening of “Wonder Woman 1984” in theaters on Christmas, the executives of Warner Bros. plan to push the highly anticipated superhero sequel to the summer of 2021, or keep the film in its theatrical debut on December 25, and then put it on the HBO Max streaming service in early January, according to sources familiar with the plans.
The fate of the highly anticipated superhero film has been in limbo since the COVID-19 pandemic first struck in March, pushing the film’s theatrical release from June 5 to August 14, then to October 2 and finally. to December 25. With cases of COVID-19 increasing at alarming rates across the country, Warner Bros. faces the specter of another widespread shutdown, especially in large urban areas which run the vast majority of theatrical activity. A shallow theatrical release could still support exhibitors on the brink of collapse, while also spurring subscriber growth for HBO Max, which has struggled to create an audience large enough to compete with Netflix, Amazon and Disney. More.
In the third quarter, WarnerMedia reported that HBO Max had a total of 8.6 million activations, with 38 million subscribers to HBO and HBO Max combined. Although it exceeded expectations for the year, HBO Max still trails its competition by sizable margins. Placing a triple-A blockbuster like “Wonder Woman 1984” would be the biggest draw to date for the service, which has not been equally successful with “Hamilton” for Disney Plus or “The Old Guard” for Netflix. Given that Disney’s share price rose Thursday after announcing 73 million Disney Plus subscribers in the fourth quarter – despite losing $ 710 million – it seems prudent for WarnerMedia to laser focus on the growth of HBO Max.
“Wonder Woman 1984”, however, was meant to be a billion dollar global sensation; any theatrical release next month would be pale in comparison, a lesson the studio has already learned the hard way with “Tenet.” With the news that a COVID vaccine could be set to release in the first half of 2021, Warner Bros. is still considering bringing “Wonder Woman 1984” back to a summer release date, possibly in June (by passing a title horror New Line Cinema) or July (on the new movie “Space Jam” with LeBron James).
Pushing theatrical release again was always a possibility for “WW84”. In a September interview with Variety Speaking of Pedro Pascal, co-writer-director of “WW84,” Patty Jenkins made it clear that COVID is ultimately driving the fate of her film.
“I don’t think anyone can trust anything right now,” Jenkins said. “We just don’t know what COVID will look like.”
One thing that is pretty clear is that “WW84” will not completely skip theaters. Jenkins has made no secret that she designed her film for a big screen and firmly believes it deserves to be seen there. And while a representative of Warner Bros. declined to comment on “speculation” regarding the future of “WW84”, they made a clear statement: “” WW84 “will be in theaters.”
Bloomberg first reported the possibility of an HBO Max release for “WW84”.
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