Despite a less than stellar international box office, trade commentaries such as Deadline are reporting Warner Bros. are very pleased with the $16.7m USA box office Wonder Woman 1984’s taken since Christmas Day. The first film’s release took $103.2m in comparison, and this result for the domestic release is a huge success in the pandemic market setting it ahead of Tenet.
This number is despite the film also being on HBO Max and seeing nearly half its subscribers watch the film on Christmas Day when it was released. That brings the worldwide gross to $85m. And Warner’s also announced a third film was entering development with director Patty Jenkins & star Gal Gadot returning.
There was flutter last week that Gal Gadot wouldn’t return, but it now seems to have been rubber-stamped. Jenkins is currently in high demand having signed up to Walt Disney for a film based on the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.
40 Markets Opened
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
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Since we last reported, a few markets including Australia opened WW 84 and added an estimated $19.4m across the box office from 40 markets to $68.3m. Its success hasn’t changed in China which is still reeling from a cold reception, but elsewhere the numbers are on the rise.
Certainly, this has been helped by being the only blockbuster and new release around at Christmas when most families are looking for something to do to escape Covid-19. Make no mistake about it, this in normal times would be a disastrous weekend for the film’s release even considering all the delays, marketing and side by side streaming tactic that’s been unveiled since.
Pirated Copies of Wonder Woman 1984 Already Exist
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
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The film has already hit the pirate market with good copies online already which was one of the perils warned against in releasing side by side via streaming. The question remains, should Warner Brothers have waited for the DC tentpole to release when the Cinema machine is back in business to recoup its money?
Whilst Cinemas are rightfully grateful at getting something huge to show on their screens to drive people back in these troubled times, can the gamble with HBO Max pay off? Putting such a film as WW84 on streaming means this just adds to lost ticket sales and box office revenue.
Considering the service is only available in America, it just can’t make anywhere near the money theatrical releases allow. HBO Max is well behind Netflix, well behind Disney Plus (and it’s actually a new contender if you think about it) and this is just a huge gamble. Whether this will have any impact on the HBO Max subscribers in the coming months, we’ll have to wait and see.
What do you make of this news? Have you seen Wonder Woman 1984? If so, let us know what you thought of the movie in the comments below.
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