While we may be talking about the unfortunate death of movie theaters in the US, considering they have yet to fully bounce back from being closed most of the year and 2021 isn’t looking as promising as we hoped, Chinese cinemas are not only open but thriving. However, you wouldn’t know it by the release of “Wonder Woman 1984.”
Before COVID-19 changed everything, China was rapidly catching up to North America as the largest box office territory in the world. And while the US has yet to revive after the pandemic shut down everything, China has reopened its cinemas and there are films actually doing numbers that would rival pre-pandemic box office. This gave Warner Bros. the hope that “Wonder Woman 1984” would not only do as good as the opening of the original film back in 2017, but might actually do better. Not only would this be a feather in the cap of WarnerMedia, who has caused many to question the studio’s motives after the announcement that ‘WW84’ and more than a dozen other WB releases would be moving to HBO Max day-and-date with theaters, but this would also show the continued improvement of worldwide box office, as so many other countries continue to deal with COVID. Alas, that was not the case. Not by a long shot.
In its opening weekend in China (via THR), “Wonder Woman 1984” earned a paltry $18.8 million. This is a real letdown when you consider WB was hoping for a debut of around $35 million for the superhero sequel. And as mentioned, this is way lower than the original film, which debuted in 2017 in China and earned $38 million in its opening and would go on to gross $90.5 million in the country. At this rate, with a roughly 50% drop, ‘WW84’ will be lucky to earn half of what “Wonder Woman” did a few years ago.
READ MORE: ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Dreams Big, But Wishes It’s Something It’s Not: Compelling [Review]
So, if Warner Bros. needed any more fuel for the “HBO Max is the future” fire, this sort of box office total would be it. When the announcement of the WB/HBO Max strategy was revealed, the studio kept saying that theaters were just not back to normal and wouldn’t be until 2022. This serves two purposes. First, it gives the studio the excuse to release all of WB’s 2021 films on streaming at the same time as theaters, but secondly, it makes “Wonder Woman 1984” bulletproof in terms of box office analysis.
If the film does poorly overseas, WB will just say that this is all a product of the pandemic (nevermind the fact that Chinese films are doing gangbusters). And if the film does abysmally in the US, the studio can chalk it up to the HBO Max of it all, where we can fully expect news about how “Wonder Woman 1984” broke HBO Max records during its opening weekend. But the truth is somewhere in between. Is the low box office in China worrying? Yes. Is that because the pandemic is still running its course or is it due to poor content? Well, considering Chinese films are doing well, it might be a general disinterest in ‘WW84.’ And will HBO Max cut into the grosses of the film? No doubt. All that to say, this whole situation is a learning moment for the industry and WB, specifically.
All told, “Wonder Woman 1984” earned $38.5 million worldwide, as the film begins its truncated theatrical release. The film is opening in the US on December 25, both in theaters and on HBO Max.