Despite the U.S experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases amid the holiday season, families showed their support for the Patty Jenkins directed Wonder Woman 1984. Premiering on Christmas day with a day and date release, the film opened to a $16.7 million domestic box office, and $68.3 million internationally.
As an effect of the pandemic, the Warner Bros. film was available in limited movie theaters with limited seating, but also could be seen in the comfort of viewers’ homes on the HBO Max streaming platform.
Warner Bros. has already ordered a third installment in the film franchise with Jenkins set to write, produce and direct.
“Wonder Woman 1984 broke records and exceeded our expectations across all of our key viewing and subscriber metrics in its first 24 hours on the service, and the interest and momentum we’re seeing indicates this will likely continue well beyond the weekend,” said Andy Forssell, the executive vice president and general manager of WarnerMedia’s Direct-to-Consumer division. “During these very difficult times, it was nice to give families the option of enjoying this uplifting film at home, where theater viewing wasn’t an option.”
Although the film is doing well at the box office considering the circumstances, Wonder Woman 1984 received mixed reviews with a metascore of 59 and user score of 4.5 out of 10 on Metacritic. Ratings were slightly higher on Rotten Tomatoes with critics giving it a lukewarm 65% and audiences scoring it at 72%.
Other films that released over the holiday weekend included Tom Hanks’ News Of The World, which released in 1,900 theaters across the nation and garnered $2.4 million at the box office, and Focus Features’ Promising Young Woman at $680k, and Roadside Attractions’ Pinocchio at $275k.
