Wonder Woman 1984 is flying from August 14 to October 2 this year.
The sequel’s star Gal Gadot also made the news official on Twitter today (see below).
All of this comes in the immediate wake of Warner Bros. shifting Christopher Nolan’s Tenet from July 17 to July 31. Tenet is anticipated to be the big event movie for exhibition as they come out of the COVID-19 shutdown. Warner Bros. is going with the 10th anniversary release of Nolan’s Inception instead on July 17. That move stems from New York City not officially reopening their theaters yet as well as other offshore territories.
With Disney’s The One and Only Ivan and Wonder Woman 1984 off Aug. 14, that leaves the weekend up for grabs. Hmmm, Mulan move, anyone? If that movie wanted to still go on July 24, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary; Disney has already built up the pic’s brand with extensive advertising earlier this year. Many in distribution circles have told me that whenever Disney wants Mulan to go, they just need to flick a switch.
Warner Bros. made golden the first weekend in October last year with the biggest opening ever for the month with DC’s The Joker which debuted to $96.2M.
Wonder Woman 1984 is apt to stir up more release date changes. Paramount has their Tom Clancy feature Without Remorse starring Michael B. Jordan on that date. Universal also has the Amblin Tom Hanks sci-fi movie Bios.
What a messy year for big studio marketing: All these release date changes have messed up merchandise and promotional partner timings: Wonder Woman 1984 Doritos bags are currently on store shelves, in addition to Universal/Illumination Minions: The Rise of Gru toys at Walmart.
Patty Jenkins returns to direct the sequel. The first 2017 movie reps the highest ever for a female-directed movie, grossing $822M worldwide.