What ‘Wonder Woman’ Says About Streaming: The Information’s Tech Briefing

Gal Gadot, star of Wonder Woman 1984, at an event in Brazil publicizing the film last year. Photo by AP.

The surprisingly strong weekend box office figures for “Wonder Woman 1984” should calm the Hollywood hysteria about WarnerMedia’s decision to release all of its film slate for next year both in theaters and on its HBO Max streaming service. Hollywood types freaked out that it was the end of the studio’s commitment to theaters. But Wonder Woman confirmed that even when a film is available on streaming, some people will still want to get out of the house and see it on the big screen.

The film generated $16.7 million in the U.S. over the weekend, according to WarnerMedia, which Variety reported was the best opening in the Covid era. It was well short of a typical blockbuster opening box office result, of course, but at a time when many theaters aren’t open at all and Covid is still raging, that’s to be expected. Even better from Warner’s point of view, plenty of people watched the movie on HBO Max as well.