On Christmas day, December 25 this year, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ will open in US theaters and also debut on streaming platform HBO Max. The decision to do both theatrical and digital release at the same time comes after the yearlong pandemic, COVID-19 continues its tally of active cases.
“As we navigate these unprecedented times, we’ve had to be innovative in keeping our businesses moving forward while continuing to super-serve our fans,” said Ann Sarnoff, chair and CEO of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures. “This is an amazing film that really comes to life on the big screen and, working with our partners in the exhibition community, we will provide that option to consumers in the U.S. where theaters are open. We realize that a lot of consumers can’t go back to the movies due to the pandemic, so we also want to give them the option to see Wonder Woman 1984 via our HBO Max platform.”
To international audience outside the US where HBO Max is unavailable to stream, the film will make entrance in cinemas on December 16, a week ahead of its US opening.
‘Wonder Woman 1984’ which is a sequel to the 2017 box office hit ‘Wonder Woman’ follows Gal Gadot’s Amazonian warrior character during the Cold War as she battles two formidable foes, Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) and Cheetah (Kristen Wiig), while reuniting with her past love, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). ‘Wonder Woman’ was a box office success in 2017, where it amassed a total of over $800 million at the global box office.
“At some point you have to choose to share any love and joy you have to give, over everything else,” director Patty Jenkins said in a statement Wednesday. “We love our movie as we love our fans, so we truly hope that our film brings a little bit of joy and reprieve to all of you this holiday season.”
‘Wonder Woman 1984’ getting stationed at HBO Max boosts the platform’s catalog of canceled theatrical releases that got shelved on its services this year. Anne Hathaway’s starred in film ‘The Witches’, which was originally planned for theatres was released digitally on the platform on October 22, after the pandemic disrupted cinema works.
“It wasn’t an easy decision and we never thought we’d have to hold on to the release for such a long time but COVID rocked all of our worlds,” Gadot disclosed.
