'Wonder Woman 1984' Will NOT Release Directly To Streaming
(Indiewire) Despite reports that “Wonder Woman 1984” could bypass the big screen and head straight to streaming, Warner Bros. has confirmed to IndieWire that director Patty Jenkins’ DC tentpole will indeed get a full theatrical run. Even as studios such as Universal — which recently pushed the films “Emma,” “The Invisible Man,” and “The Hunt” to VOD platforms and announced a day-and-date release for “Trolls World Tour” — begin to modify their release strategies, Warners is sticking with its original plan to release the film nationwide.
Warner Bros. has not officially announced a shift in the release date, either, which is currently set for June 5, opening the gates to the summer movie season. With the current self-distancing and quarantine measures in place, studios are left unable to support their films with the requisite pageantry of junkets and premieres prohibited by social-gathering mandates.
Bringing theater movies to streaming is a great plan for movies like 'Bloodshot', 'The Hunt' and 'The Invisible Man'. They're all entertaining popcorn movies, but it's likely they wouldn't have made more than, like, $150 million in a corona-free world. Being on the vanguard of the new-release VOD trend gives a huge value-add, especially considering that they wouldn't be making ANY money in the theaters right now. For a movie like 'Wonder Woman 1984', which is a sequel to the highest grossing superhero origin movie ever ($828 million), it's really more about maximizing profit. Especially considering the intense struggle DC has had to stay relevant against the success of Marvel.
The MCU is sitting at $22,587,809,092 total worldwide.
DC movies are at $12,395,289,146, and that's if you count literally every DC movie ever made going back to 1978's superman.
Yikes. Besides the money aspect, blockbuster movies like these are also meant to be watched in theaters. A lot of effort goes into making an intensely cinematic experience that doesn't really come across the same over your laptop or phone. So, to me, it makes sense for these blockbuster films.
If you're looking for something to stream, make to check this list out.