Warner Bros. has been under constant scrutiny over its hybrid release plan. Multiple filmmakers have spoken out against the simultaneous theatrical-HBO Max approach. One voice moviegoers haven’t heard from in this debate has been Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins. As the Wonder Woman sequel was one of the first to test out this strategy, Jenkins had never really spoken up on the sudden shift until now. The director shared her "heartbreaking" experience releasing the sequel on HBO Max.
Patty Jenkins aired out her thoughts on Wonder Woman 1984’s hybrid release, according to Deadline. Jenkins finally spoke up on what it was like to release the sequel during a panel at CinemaCon. Despite the reported pay-out she and Gal Gadot received, the director wasn’t as content with the situation as moviegoers may have believed. The Wonder Woman 1984 director said about the sequel’s same-day theatrical-streaming release:
It was the best choice in a bunch of bad choices at the moment...[it was a] heartbreaking experience. It was detrimental to the movie...I don’t think it plays the same on streaming, ever. I’m not a fan of day-and-date and I hope to avoid it forever.
Jenkins’ words gave a peek into what she was dealing with surrounding Wonder Woman 1984’s hybrid release. Her thoughts on the HBO Max deal echoed the same sentiments as fellow directors Denis Villeneuve and Tenet's Christopher Nolan. Patty Jenkins seemed to place the blame on Warner Bros. over the Wonder Woman sequel’s disappointing box office reception. So, in Jenkins’ perspective, she doesn’t want to deal with the same situation again. Even though, current situations may make that scenario a recurring strategy for the time being.
Jenkins further expanded on her feelings with streaming movies. The director mentioned her work as a filmmaker was strictly for “the big-screen experience” before Netflix was brought into the equation. Patty Jenkins gave a strong “no” to making films for the streaming giant. She gave her reasons for her stance on not making films for streaming by saying:
I like working with Netflix for television, I wouldn’t make a movie there or any streaming service with those terms. It’s hard to market a movie when it has a limited run.
But the Wonder Woman 1984 director wasn’t done airing out her grievances. She reportedly aimed her biggest criticisms at the studios and movie theaters. Patty Jenkins took issue with the waning quality of the moviegoing experience in recent years (i.e., ticket prices, seating, food costs, etc). When it came to Hollywood studios, Jenkins blamed them for a lack of diverse content at the cinema while criticizing their deals for blockbusters and extended-release windows. Months after the Wonder Woman sequel’s release, Jenkins finally felt okay speaking her piece on the current state of cinema.
Hopefully, Patty Jenkins won’t have to worry about the same-day approach when her next releases are unleashed onto the world. But if you want to see Jenkins and Gal Gadot continue their Wonder Woman exploits, you can watch Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max.
