Patty Jenkins addresses decision to release ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ on HBO Max
“Wonder Woman 1984” director Patty Jenkins did not expect the movie to release first on a streaming platform, but she believes now is the time for people to see it.
The theatrical release date for the Warner Bros. film has been delayed multiple times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is now set to premiere on HBO Max and in select theaters on Dec. 25. (Like CNN, HBO Max is part of WarnerMedia).
Warner Bros. announced last week it will make the studio’s entire 2021 slate of films available to HBO Max subscribers without an additional fee. “Tenet” director Christopher Nolan, who has a long history of working with Warner Bros., criticized the move in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Tuesday.
“Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service,” Nolan said.
“I agree with Chris. I don’t think it’s great for the future of filmmaking when Covid has passed,” Jenkins told CNN in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “However, our film was different. It was presented in a very different way, which is that we are at the height of the pandemic right now and people are really suffering and struggling and the choices are to sit on our film and wait or to release it.”
Jenkins said she wishes more audiences could see the film in a theater, but she’s happy it’s finally releasing.
“In this case, at this moment in time only, I really was excited about this idea,” Jenkins explained. “The number one reason I’m a filmmaker is to try share experiences with mankind and have the communal moment of sharing something. Yes, I loved it when it happens in theaters, but this year I’m so touched and moved that it’s going to happen in people’s homes when they can’t go places and still happen in theaters where they can. There’s something sort of wonderful about just saying now is the time to release the movie, regardless of all of those other things. I’m with Chris, I’m going to go right back to being a partner to the theatrical business. That’s what I make films for.”
