Patty Jenkins Closes Deal to Direct ‘Wonder Woman’ Sequel

The film is slated for release on Dec. 13, 2019

Wonder Woman Patty Jenkins

“Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins has closed a deal to the direct the sequel, an individual with knowledge of the project told the TheWrap.

The film is slated for release on Dec. 13, 2019.

TheWrap has confirmed that, like “Wonder Woman,” “Wonder Woman 2” will be a period piece, with Princess Diana facing off against the Soviet Union during the 1980s.

DC Entertainment President Geoff Johns is currently developing “Wonder Woman 2’s” script with Jenkins. Other details, including which characters from Wonder Woman lore may appear have not been revealed, but it’s notable that WB still has an option for Chris Pine, who played love interest Steve Trevor.

Given that (Spoiler Alert) Trevor dies during the events of “Wonder Woman,” bringing him back might be a stretch, but then again the world in which it takes place features living gods from Greek mythology.

“Wonder Woman” was extremely well received by audiences and critics and is considered a righting-of-the-ship for the DC Extended Universe after the mixed receptions the previous entires “Batman V Superman” and “Suicide Squad” received. Though both films saw very successful box office, they were criticized for excessively grim tone (in the case of “BvS”) and an incoherent plot (in the case of “Suicide Squad”). Reaction to “Batman V Superman” so affected Warner Bros. that it initiated a reorganization of the DC films division in May, 2016.

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“Wonder Woman” is the first film produced largely after that reorganization was completed, and DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns later told TheWrap that the film is serving as something of a tonal re-direction for DC films overall.

The film has now grossed over $800 million worldwide, and its $404 million domestic total puts it seventh all-time for superhero movies, passing the original “Spider-Man” made back in 2002.

While adjustments for inflation would still put the “Spider-Man” total well above “Wonder Woman,” only a small handful of superhero films have been able to pass its raw total in the 15 years since it popularized the genre. “Wonder Woman” is just $4 million away from passing the last film to do it, “Captain America: Civil War,” which made $408 million domestically last year. Another million after that, and “Wonder Woman” would pass the $409 million made by “Iron Man 3,” putting it in the top five alongside “The Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and the two “Avengers” films.

With the heroine of Themiscyra matching the performance of a movie that featured nearly all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe roster, it’s little wonder that Warner Bros. is doing its best to make “Wonder Woman” a core element of the DC Extended Universe going forward. The marketing surrounding the upcoming “Justice League” is a sign of this. While the original synopsis for the film focused on Batman gathering the other DC heroes to form the titular super-team, the synopsis seen on toys for the film focuses more on Wonder Woman.

Jenkins is repped by CAA, Anonymous Content, and attorney Alan Wertheimer at Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum Morris & Klein.

Variety first reported the news of Jenkins’ deal.

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