Patty Jenkins on Allowing ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ to Open on HBO

“Wonder Woman 1984” was the beginning of Warner Bros.’ year-long experiment with releasing motion pictures in theaters and on HBO Max concurrently; however whereas director Patty Jenkins mentioned it was a vital transfer, she hopes she will “avoid it forever.”

Jenkins was requested in regards to the day-and-date determination as a part of a panel on Thursday at CinemaCon, and her remarks have been met with applause by the viewers of movie show homeowners. Releasing “WW84” was the “best choice in a bunch of bad choices at the moment,” she mentioned, provided that COVID-19 vaccines had but to obtain emergency approval and the movie’s Christmas Day launch coincided with the largest spike in infections within the U.S.

“It was hard to determine what to do with one’s film. For me, I was looking at what turned out to be true, which is that we had no idea when this pandemic was going to get under control, and the film had been finished for a while so it was one of those overdue films,” she mentioned. “It was hugely detrimental to the movie but I was thinking, ‘What else are we going to do, wait two or three more years?’”

But Jenkins, like “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve and “Tenet” director Christopher Nolan, has championed the significance of releasing movies on the large display, and mentioned it was “heartbreaking” that many individuals would see her DC blockbuster for the primary time on a TV display or laptop computer as a substitute of a movie show.

“Look, I make movies for the theatrical experience. That’s the sandbox I’m in,” she mentioned. “It’s OK for me if you watch it a second or third time on your phone, but I grew up loving the cinema.”

“Wonder Woman 1984” was watched by 3.9 million households within the first 17 days of its run on HBO Max, in keeping with Samba TV, however solely opened to $16.7 million on the home field workplace in comparison with $103 million for the primary “Wonder Woman” in 2017. Still, provided that hundreds of theaters have been nonetheless closed on the time, it was a decent determine as hardcore DC followers purchased personal screenings to see the film on the large display.

Warner Bros. has greenlit a 3rd “Wonder Woman” movie, and Jenkins can be signed on to direct “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” for Disney.