(UTV | COLOMBO) – It’s official. A third “Wonder Woman” movie is a go with Warner Bros. Pictures fast-tracking development of another instalment in the DC Comics franchise.
Gal Gadot is returning to star as the title heroine, and Patty Jenkins will be back to write and direct what intends to be the concluding entry in a superhero trilogy.
The announcement clarifies this will be a theatrical release only, not unsurprising as Jenkins has indicated previously she had no plans to return unless that was a guarantee.
Jenkins is set to direct “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” due out December 2023, though how this announcement changes this isn’t clear. She has previously confirmed that in-depth treatments for both films are essentially complete which means work on either could start fairly soon depending upon scheduling. It’s also certainly possible Jenkins could begin shooting one whilst in post-production on the other.
The news follows hot on the heels of the second film’s debut on Christmas Day. Box-office numbers are in with the film pulling in $16.7 million domestically, the highest opening of any film since the pandemic (next nearest was “Tenet” with $9.7 million). Globally the film pulled in $85 million on its opening weekend.
Domestically the film’s debut was down from the $103.2 million opening weekend of the first film. However, 60% of U.S. cinemas remain closed, including populous cities like New York and Los Angeles.
The film also debuted simultaneously on HBO Max. Warners says nearly half of the platform’s 12.6 million active users watched the film on Friday and millions more watched via cable or wireless access. There were scattered reports of glitches via the app’s help account, but no major outage as such. It will likely be a while before we learn if the film’s release led to a surge in sign-ups.