The sequel to the superhero hit of 2017 Wonder Woman has opened in US Cinemas, generating “surprisingly robust” tickets sales and earning the best box-office opening during the pandemic era, according to one industry paper.
Wonder Woman had a $16. (€12.3m) debut, which was “the biggest opening weekend haul in the coronavirus era”, Variety said.
The Warner Bros film opened in more than 2,000 cinemas in the US and Canada and was made available on the HBO Max streaming service on the same day. Its distributor said that HBO Max’s viewing hours had tripled as a consequence.
According to Warner Media, almost half of the platform’s retail subscribers watched Wonder Woman 1984 when it was launched on Christmas Day.
It also said that HBO Max’s total viewing hours on December 25 were more than the number registered on a typical day in the previous month. The Original Wonder Woman, which was released in June 2017, made more than $100m at the US and Canada box office when it opened in more than 4,000 cinemas.
It’s sequel opening weekend takings were just a fraction of that record-breaking amount, but its distributor stated that it still exceeded box office projections.
Wonder Woman 1984’s Christmas weekend takings were comparable to the opening weekend haul of Tenet. Christopher Nolan’s movie is the only other major studio release that has reached cinemas since March.
Tenet made $20.2m when it opened during the long Labor Day weekend in the US and Canada in September after three days of previews.
Wonder Woman 1984 made $36.1m over the Christmas weekend worldwide, accumulating $85m as total global takings. The movie, which was directed by Patty Jenkins, shows Israeli actress Gal Gadot reprising her role as the DC Comics superhero against a 1980s backdrop.
Warner Media said in a statement on Sunday that it had decided to “fast-track development” on a third installment in the fantasy franchise.
Warner Bros chairman Toby Emmerich said Jenkins and Gadot would both return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy.
Wonder Woman opened alongside the Walt Disney Company and Pixar’s latest animation Soul. Both films reached Chinese cinemas, where they were soundly bested by the Hong Kong action sequel Shock Wave 2.
