The summer months are usually when audiences head to theaters in huge numbers to check out the latest cavalcade of big budget blockbusters that dominate the box office. Obviously, 2020 has been a very different year in more ways than one, with the continued effects of the Coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on the movie business, and analysts predicting that Hollywood could be facing a $20 billion shortfall.
The domino effect that began with several new releases making their way to digital in a matter of weeks has snowballed since then, with the theatrical schedule becoming increasingly barren as the studios move their projects to new dates and many being delayed by up to a year. One positive is that 2021 could be the most stacked year in history, but with the industry still in the very early stages of trying to return to some sense of normality, it doesn’t seem like there will be a lot of options available when business resumes on any sort of scale.
Wonder Woman 1984 was originally set for June, before being pushed back to August and then October, with Warner Bros. reluctant to release one of their biggest cash-cows in the midst of such uncertainty. However, with the United States currently experiencing a surge of cases, we’ve heard that the studio are now seriously considering delaying Patty Jenkins’ sequel until 2021.
According to our intel – which comes from the same sources that told us Diana will have her Golden Eagle armor in the film, and that The Batman was going to be delayed – WB are said to be concerned enough that Christopher Nolan wants his $225 million Tenet to be the first major release of the summer in a time where box office takings will be severely impacted, and that they want to protect their investment with Wonder Woman 1984 and make sure it gets released when theaters can operate at full capacity. Which means that they’re now looking at delaying it into 2021.
You can understand their desire to ensure that the movie earns as much money as possible, with Wonder Woman 1984 widely predicted to join the elusive billion dollar club before the world went to hell, and if Tenet ends up disappointing, then Warner Bros. would be justified in their decision to hold off on releasing any more of their most expensive movies until things have settled down.