If you threw a Lasso of Truth around the team behind Wonder Woman 1984 , they would probably say they would prefer the movie be seen in theaters. But that’s hard to do safely with COVID-19, and waiting is expensive because every new release date requires a fresh media blitz. Warner Bros. has now bowed to reality, and will make Diana Prince’s latest adventure available on HBO Max on December 25th, at the same time the film is released in theaters.
This much-delayed sequel to Wonder Woman was originally set for December 13th of 2019. Normal filming hiccups caused the studio to push it back to Memorial Day weekend, and then the abnormal pandemic required yet another delay to this past October. In September, as the novel coronavirus stubbornly refused to disappear despite the fact that we had tried absolutely nothing to stop it, the studio repackaged WW84 as a Christmas Day present. With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations hitting record highs, WarnerMedia has landed on an HBO Max co-release as an unhappy compromise.
In a statement, director Patty Jenkins said, “The time has come.” She wrote,
“At some point you have to choose to share any love and joy you have to give, over everything else. We love our movie as we love our fans, so we truly hope that our film brings a little bit of joy and reprieve to all of you this holiday season. Watch it in theaters, where it is made safe to do so (check out the great work theaters have done to make it so!) And available in the safety of your home on HBO Max where it is not. Happy holidays to all of you. We hope you enjoy our film as much as we enjoyed making it.”
Wonder Woman herself Gal Gadot added, “It wasn’t an easy decision and we never thought we’d have to hold onto the release for such a long time but COVID rocked all of our worlds. We feel the movie has never been so relevant and we hope that it’ll bring some joy, hope and love to your hearts.”
Check out both of their full remarks below, and revisit the lightning-riding trailer and Golden Eagle armor if you wish. Getting HBO Max has never been easier, and the streamer is finally available on Amazon Fire.
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) November 18, 2020
— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) November 19, 2020
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