Wonder Woman 1984 was one of the very first DC films to be impacted by the pandemic during 2020. Given the global state at the time the film saw both a limited release in theatres and day one on HBO Max available to stream.
While there wasn’t a lot of talk from the team behind the film previously regarding its release, director Patty Jenkins spoke out during CinemaCon 2021 about the heartbreak of seeing her film release directly to streaming.
According to Deadline, Jenkins spoke during a luncheon explaining that she wants her films to be made for the big screen and offered her thoughts on how the digital release affected the film’s performance.
“It was detrimental to the movie,” Jenkins said. “I knew that could have happed. I don’t think it plays the same on streaming, ever. I’m not a fan of day and date [digital releases] and I hope to avoid it forever.”
The director explained that she crafts her films for the big screen and has no interest in making a movie for exclusive release on a streaming service such as Netflix. She explained that she enjoys working on TV series for streaming but won’t make a movie as “It’s hard to market a movie when it has a limited run.”
At the time of its limited release, Wonder Woman 1984 grossed $16.7 million in its opening weekend, which was a record for a movie releasing during the pandemic at that point in time. Ultimately the film grossed $46 million domestically and $166 million worldwide which was far from the success of the first Wonder Woman film back in 2017.
Movies are beginning to get back into the swing of theatrical releases with Marvel set to launch Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings exclusively in theatres next week. How the film performs could dictate how other studios consider their film release for the near future.