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2020 has been an unprecedented time for a variety of reasons, including for the entertainment industry. Countless movies were pushed back until 2021, while a select number of titles came straight to homes. Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984 will do a new mixture of both, hitting theaters and HBO Max on Christmas Day. And Regal Cinemas previously issued its own statement on the sequel's home release.
Movie theaters were hit hard when COVID-19 first hit, with theaters closed for months before reopening to limited capacity and with few new releases. Wonder Woman 1984 was delayed until December, and many worried that it would be pushed back again or perhaps arriving via streaming like Disney+'s Mulan. Regal Cinemas is run by Cineworld and CEO Mooky Greidinger previously spoke to the importance of Wonder Woman's sequel, saying:
I think Wonder Woman 1984 should be a huge movie for us. We can’t open cinemas just for one movie, as big as Wonder Woman will be. If you ask me if it’s good to open [Wonder Woman 1984] in December, my answer is no. If it goes in February [instead], I believe it could be a huge movie. We don’t want to open it and be disappointed. [By waiting,] the picture around vaccination will be clearer.
Well, there you have it. It looks like Regal Cinemas was banking hard on Wonder Woman 1984 being a major blockbuster. The hope is that the project could help revitalize the movie industry, especially if it were pushed back just a few months to February. But in the end Patty Jenkins' second DC blockbuster will head to theaters on Christmas Day as planned, while also being available to stream for HBO Max subscribers.
Mooky Greidinger's comments come to Variety come from before Wonder Woman 1984 was announced to be hitting HBO Max at no additional cost to subscribers. He stressed the importance of exciting new titles for Regal Cinemas, which had recently closed down some locations as a result of not having any viable movies screening. Because while Tenet got a full theatrical release, there haven't been many big budget blockbusters arriving in theaters.
It should be interesting to see exactly how Wonder Woman 1984 performs in theaters. It obviously won't have the same massive box office performance as its predecessor, but it will be available for the countless families to have a tradition of heading to theaters around Christmas. But there are also plenty of moviegoers who will enjoy movie from the safety of their own home. We'll just have to wait and see how many people join HBO Max as a result of this movie's release.
The original Wonder Woman is currently available on HBO Max, which is also where 1984 will arrive on December 25th. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.
Moviegoers have been eagerly anticipating the release of Wonder Woman 1984 since the original movie became a sensation back in 2017. With Patty Jenkins back in the director's chair, fans were excited to learn more about the backstory of Gal Gadot's character, and see a variety of new characters introduced. This includes Kristen Wiig's Cheetah as well as Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord.
Warner Bros. continues to put emphasis on HBO Max with Wonder Woman 1984's release and other projects providing incentive to sign up for the streaming service. It'll also be the home of Zack Snyder's Justice League, and The Suicide Squad TV spinoff for John Cena's Peacemaker. So perhaps that's the silver lining when it comes to the movie's upcoming performance at the box office.
Wonder Woman 1984 will arrive in theaters and HBO Max on December 25th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next movie experience.
