‘Wonder Woman 1984’ delays theatrical date amid digital release rumors
Wonder Woman 1984 is officially being delayed due to the ongoing issue of COVID-19 causing physical distancing measures to close movie theatres and other gatherings.
The film will now be skipping over its initial June 5 release date to later in the summer while the new release date could end up pushing back again depending on how the situation with the virus rolls out.
Read More: Firefly Music Festival 2020 canceled due to coronavirus pandemic
Earlier in the week, The Wrap released a report saying the film producers and executives at Warner Media were considering skipping a theatrical release entirely to head to streaming services.
Movie theatres across the world are shutting down with large gatherings being banned or discouraged globally.
Numerous films are already being postponed or sent from theatres to streaming services. One of the earliest postponements in the film industry came when the new James Bond film delayed their release until November back when the virus wasn’t even declared a pandemic yet.
Trolls World Tour is one such film moving from theatres to streaming services and is being offered for rental on iTunes, Amazon and VUDU at $19.99 lasting 48 hours. The film, which features Ozzy Osbourne as the character Thrash, was set for theatrical release on April 10 but will now be streaming on that day.
According to their report, Director Patty Jenkins and producer Charles Roven wanted to see the film arrive in theatres in August.
“It’s ludicrous if you consider how big a movie this is,” he says. “Everybody recognizes that, as interesting as streaming might be, if you want a huge, global worldwide box office, you’ve got to release it in a movie theater.”
Read More: Vans are revealing a milk-tea inspired Old Skool shoe collection
Now, it looks like a decision has been finalized and that August release date is locked in.
The film is now arriving on August 14 in theatres.
Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich shares a statement saying he hopes the world will look different by then.
“When we greenlit WW 1984 it was with every intention to be viewed on the big screen and are excited to announce that Warner Bros. Pictures will be bringing the film to theaters on August 14th.” He adds, “We hope the world will be in a safer and healthier place by then.”
Similarly, Jenkins shares her thoughts on the delay giving a matching statement.
We made Wonder Woman 1984 for the big screen and I believe in the power of cinema. In these terrible times, when theater owners are struggling as so many are, we are excited to re-date our film to August 14th 2020 in a theater near you, and pray for better times for all by then pic.twitter.com/85ykQ8x6NE
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) March 24, 2020
Read More: Dance Gavin Dance reschedule spring tour, Swanfest for late summer
Lead actress Gal Gadot also shares her thoughts.
In these dark and scary times, I am looking forward to a brighter future ahead. Where we can share the power of cinema together again. Excited to redate our WW84 film to August 14, 2020. I hope everyone is safe. Sending my love to you all. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/nzPUM7uQ1n
— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) March 24, 2020
The original film was the highest-grossing film by a solo female director, and was the 10th highest-grossing film of that year.
With the success of the first film, Wonder Woman 1984 was expecting to pull in massive numbers at the box office.
The new film was initially pushed back in 2018 to be released this year. Producer Steve Weintraub spoke to Collider explaining the move at the time.
“The studio felt that until their slate for the year before came together—and they had an amazing end of 2018—that they needed to have a big what I call aircraft carrier, a “tentpole”, in [2019],” he explained. “We had a very rushed pre-production because Patty also did the TNT show and we had a very rushed post-production schedule in order to make the date that we were on, which was November 1, 2019.”
Do you think that Wonder Woman 1984 will arrive in August? Let us know in the comments below.