So far Patty Jenkins has been pretty adamant aboutWonder Woman 1984making its scheduled Christmas day release, even if Warner Bros. CEOAnn Sarnoff isn’t as confident of that. As that date grows nearer, it looks like the final decision will hinge on the outcome of the U.S. Presidential Election taking place today and how the country will handle future COVID-19 preventive measures.
Also adding up to that are recent news of more restrictive policies again taking over most of Western Europe, especially in big countries like German, France, Italy and Spain, as well as the UK, all of which accounted for 16% ofWonder Woman’soverseas box office revenue back in 2017, according to Deadline.
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In similar fashion to whatMGM is experiencing withNo Time to Die, Warner’s biggest money concerns would be what has already been spent or destined for advertisingWonder Woman 1984, on top of some minor interest being accrued since filming began that’s rumored to be in the region of $8-9m, should Diana Prince make it to Christmas.
As of now,Wonder Womanhas probably racked up a number in the region of $20m for promotion, however, that is unlikely to see many changes as most TV ads can be rescheduled (the NFL being a notable exception) for 2021, in case it were needed. Other promotional efforts include partnerships with the likes of LEGO forWonder Woman 1984sets and Doritos featuring Gal Gadot on the packaging, both of which were more timed-based.
Whatever the case, the same reasoning rings true for Warner’s business branch it did for other studios: they’ll take any small losses that a year’s worth of delays bring. What’s important is thatWonder Womanhits movie theaters in a time frame that ensures maximum profitability on their $200 million investment (without accounting for the previously noted expenses), which is why studio heads have reportedly shunned the possibility of alimited release on cinemas followed by a PVODstage.
If and whenWonder Woman1984is delayed again that could seta fire that takes Ryan Reynolds’sFree Guyand Gadot’s ownDeath on the Nilewith it, finally putting a nail to the remainder of 2020’s blockbusters films. There’s also the slight issue of when to reschedule for, considering the first half of 2021 is already looking pretty packed.
Wonder Woman 1984is scheduled for release on December 25th 2020.
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