With the coronavirus pandemic showing little signs of slowing down and many cinemas reducing their hours or closing their doors entirely until the New Year, Deadline is reporting that executives at Warner Bros. are meeting to discuss the conundrum of whether to delay the DC Extended Universe sequel Wonder Woman 1984 into 2021, or stick to its Christmas Day release.
Wonder Woman 1984 was originally set for release on December 13th, 2019 – a date that Warner Bros. is no doubt wishing it had kept. It was brought forward to November 1st 2019 before being pushed back to June of this year as the studio looked to capitalise with a summer release. Unfortunately, the pandemic then saw it moved to October 2nd, before shifting to its current Christmas Day date last month.
According to the trade, Warner Bros. is facing pressure from exhibitors to make a decision on the film, and is fast running out of time to delay the film into 2021 without avoiding any additional – and wasted – marketing spend. The studio is said to be keen to stick to the date, but is wary after releasing Christopher Nolan’s Tenet to disappointing returns this summer.
SEE ALSO: Gal Gadot cried at Wonder Woman 1984’s opening scene
Should Warner Bros. opt to push Wonder Woman 1984 into 2021, it is thought that Disney would follow suit with its 20th Century Studios titles Free Guy and Death on the Nile, essentially wiping out the lucrative holiday season for exhibitors and potentially pushing cinema chains such as AMC towards bankruptcy.
Wonder Woman 1984 reunites Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins with stars Gal Gadot (Diana Prince), Chris Pine (Steve Trevor), Ewen Bremner (Charlie), Said Taghmaoui (Sameer), Connie Nielsen (Queen Hippolyta), Robin Wright (General Antiope), Lisa Loven Kongsli (Menalippe), Doutzen Kroes (Venelia) and new additions Kristen Wiig (Ghostbusters) as Barbara Ann Minerva/Cheetah, Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones) as Maxwell Lord, and Natasha Rothwell (Love, Simon), Ravi Patel (Master of None) and Gabriella Wilde (Doctor Who) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
