Wonder Woman 1984 Director Admits Studio Execs Had Doubts During Production

After nearly one year of pause, the DC Extended Universe is back with the release of Wonder Woman 1984. After director Patty Jenkins pulled together one of the most highly-praised films in the DCEU that over $821 million in box office revenue, plans were quickly made for a sequel that would put Gal Gadot's leading hero into an appropriately epic second solo story.

Even before the effects of the pandemic, this movie faced multiple theatrical release delays before it finally settled on Christmas Day 2020, coming nearly three and a half years after the original movie became a hit. This didn't stop Warner Brothers from having their concerns about how the sequel would play out in terms of plot and story, however, even with Jenkins' work on Wonder Woman gaining such praise from both critics and fans.

Patty Jenkins recently divulged more on this subject during promotion of her newest DCEU adventure.

NEWS

In a new interview with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin via Variety, Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins revealed that Warner Bros. executives had their fair share of doubts and concerns "in the middle" of production. Jenkins discussed the challenges she had in both keeping the faith in this movie and the crew that made it happen:

"The hardest challenge is keeping the map in your head and not losing faith. I think it’s absolutely imperative that you have your script done and you think it’s great. I don’t understand how people do it when things are changing. I don’t know how you could keep track of it. I’m not a believer in that. I’m not a believer in studios doing it. I wish they would stop doing it — get your shit together and get your script written before you start making a movie. It drives me nuts.

So we did very thorough writing, and then every single day, you have to have faith in the writer in you and then in the artists that you worked with to make a plan, that the plan is going to work. But let me tell you, it’s absolutely fascinating to have to wait so long to see it come together. This was such a complicated film that even in the middle, the studio was like, 'I don’t know about these things.' I was like, 'You can’t judge it yet. We don’t have the effects in. So it looks stupid now, but you have to wait.' Carrying that is very lonely."

WHAT THIS MEANS

Taking into account how many controversies Warner Bros. has had to handle in 2020 alone, there does seem to be some reasoning behind the studio taking necessary precautionary measures to ensure that this movie was as successful as its predecessor. After the backlash from films like 2017's Justice League and 2016's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Jenkins' superiors would be foolish not to do anything in their power to put forth the best movie they can bring to life.

However, it's clear that the production took a toll on director Patty Jenkins, especially after she helped deliver one of the most critically acclaimed movies in the DCEU's rocky history. Wonder Woman still holds the highest Rotten Tomatoes rating of any movie in the franchise, and it ranks third in box office revenue, largely due to Jenkins' devotion and care for Diana Prince and her supporting cast of characters. 

Jenkins took on an even larger role for Wonder Woman 1984, serving as a co-writer and producer alongside her directing duties, and she has clearly had her vision planned out since long before the special effects and editing came into play. It will be fascinating to see what Warner Bros.' reaction to the final cut of the film is, and public reviews already seem promising after the first scene of the movie was released online.

Wonder Woman 1984 will release in theaters and on HBO Max in the US on December 25.