As we speak, “Wonder Woman 1984” is six weeks away from its global Christmas Day release. Shockingly enough, the Gal Gadot-starring superhero sequel is now officially set to hit theaters on December 25th with an exclusive run on the HBO Max streaming service that same day. The industry is truly crumbling.
Warner Bros. announced Wednesday that the tentpole, a follow-up to the 2017 blockbuster that earned $828.1 million at the worldwide box office, has given up on a traditional theatrical release and will instead open in whatever cinemas remain open on Dec. 25 as well as stream on HBO Max that same day.
Do you blame Warners for doing this? They don’t seem to be in the mood to repeat what was done this past summer with Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” being released in theaters and bombing at the box-office with a paltry $53.8M domestic intake. WW84’s HBO Max unveiling makes perfect sense to me, it would also boost subscriber growth for the struggling streamer, which has struggled to build an audience, at least when compared to its other streaming competition (Netflix, Amazon, and Disney Plus).