The first Wonder Woman film was met to great critical acclaim back when it was released back in 2017. In fact, that film still sits on a strong 94% for critics and an 84% audience score.
Princess Diana's first solo outing was, for many, an immediate favorite among the batch of films that DC and Warner Brothers have released. So, clearly the anticipation for the long awaited sequel was high - anticipation that kept growing substantially after the many delays that the film received due to worldwide pandemic.
It all came to a head when Warner Bros. made a landscape changing move, officially announcing an HBO Max premiere for the movie for no additional cost to subscribers, alongside its theatrical release. The move was unprecedented and led Warner Bros. to make even bolder moves in regard to the movie landscape as we know it.
Such a release meant that the Gal Gadot-led superhero film was going to be readily available for the masses on Christmas morning. This was, and has since turned out to be, a huge move for the studio.
Nearly half of all HBO Max subscribers tuned in to see Wonder Woman on their television screens Christmas morning--a massive win for the streaming service. This game-changing release came with more surprises than anticipated, however. The film, once standing at an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, has since plummeted to a 65% critic score--alongside a 72% audience score. CinemaScore even gave it the same score as Justice League.
It would seem that many don't think that Wonder Woman's new adventure is up to snuff with what came before--in fact, there seems like there was at least one disagreement behind the scenes.
NEWS
In an interview with JoBlo, director Patty Jenkins revealed that the studio fought with her to include both opening scenes for WW84.
When discussing if Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright's roles in the sequel were always written in its script, Jenkins shared:
[They were] not always written in. It was the success of the first film, but it was also something else. I wouldn’t of jammed it in there because of the success of the film, because it actually made the movie too long. We have two openings in our movie and we would talk about it with the studio all the time and they would say, you’ve got to cut the mall and the Eighties, or you’ve got to cut the Amazon. I was like, we can’t, we can’t cut either. The reason that I ended up realizing that you need the Amazon is because I suddenly, you do that thing where you’re like, wait, you have to remember all the people that haven’t seen the first Wonder Woman who watch this on a plane. And suddenly it’s like, oh, it’s super hard to understand who Diana is and what’s going on without touching base there. I love the fact that you hear all of the ‘being a great hero takes your whole life,’ you know? So there was this wisdom there that they were trying to tell her which is not about being the strongest or the fastest, it’s about these complex observations you have to make during life in order to become a true hero. I love that she doesn’t understand that until that final speech.
WHAT THIS MEANS
For those that have seen the movie, you would know that it would seem that Patty Jenkins won out in the end--as both scenes made it into the opening of the film.
It is, however, very important to note that disagreements and decisions with studios like the one described in Jenkins's quote are extremely common. In fact, they are a key part of what makes a film come together - and get to the final version that audiences end up seeing. So there was certainly nothing out of the ordinary here, and this isn't something that would get filed under "behind the scenes drama. "
Many of you have likely already seen Wonder Woman 1984. If you haven't (or even if you have), make sure to check out The Direct's official spoiler-free review of the film to see if it's worth your time. Ironically enough, our review mentions the first two scenes specifically. Let's just say that it might have been better if they never made the cut in the first place.
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