This year saw the release of the first major motion picture adaptation of the world’s premiere super-heroine, Wonder Woman of DC Comics. The “Wonder Woman” film of Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe, starring Israeli model-actress Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins, premiered in the middle of the year to positive reviews and sold-out box office crowds. Many praised the movie for its girl-power implications such as females in the lead and the director’s chair. While Gadot as Wonder Woman will return in “Justice League” later this year, interest has been high for a solo sequel.
Warner-DC has slotted “Wonder Woman 2” for sometime in 2019, but word was still out as to whether Jenkins will return to direct. Prayer answered.
Director returns
Patty Jenkins has been in negotiations with Warner Bros Pictures over the past few months since the first “Wonder Woman” premiered, but now the studio can say with all certainty that they have ironed out a deal for the now-celebrated filmmaker to return and direct the sequel. The full exact details of the agreement have yet to come out to the public, but one persisting notion was that the studio was determined to retain Jenkins for “Wonder Woman 2” to the point that she would become the highest-paid director in Hollywood as of nowadays.
It was something of a quandary where a solo sequel film for the Amazon princess superhero was concerned. The original film was a remarkably solid production thanks to the acting of Gal Gadot and her co-stars but also due to the on-set leadership of Jenkins. While Gadot was signed on to another solo “Wonder Woman” film Jenkins only had one on her original contract.
Still, she does have her own creative vision for such things as the sequel, and the fact that her movie was so successful only made Warner-DC realize that they needed her to stay.
Highest-paid deal
Though Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot have both become indelible to the live-action image of “Wonder Woman,” Patty was not part of the production from the get-go, having only taken over the spot from Michelle McLaren, who left because of “creative differences.” Sources note that to keep Jenkins aboard, Warner Bros.
will give her writing and directing fees in the $7-9 million range, a huge leap from the $1 million she got to helm the first film.
“Wonder Woman 2” is being targeted by Warner-DC for a December 13, 2019, release. In the meantime, a separate movie about the life of the super-heroine's creator William Moulton Marston, “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” from Annapurna Pictures and starring Luke Evans, will be premiering this October.
