“Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins used three famous movies as her inspiration for the upcoming female superhero film: “Superman,” “Casablanca” and “Indiana Jones.”
Jenkins told Fandango that Richard Donner’s original 1978 “Superman,” starring Christopher Reeve, was the main source of inspiration for “Wonder Woman.”
“I worked really hard to have that happen,” she said. “I miss that kind of movie and this felt like a perfect place to be old and new again in that way and say, ‘Here’s the grandam of superheroes and here’s her story and here’s how she made us feel as little girls and here’s how she can inspire little girls today,’ you know? In a very pure and straightforward way. I’m so happy that people have noticed that. Sometimes they haven’t, sometimes they’re just commenting that she’s hitting the same buttons that Christopher Reeve did, which is like a dream come true. It’s everything that we went for. That was the big inspiration.”
When it came to Chris Pine’s character, Steve Trevor, Jenkins said she drew from Indiana Jones: “He stays a man, is funny, and is like an everyman that we love and we root for, but one that’s actually not uncomfortable adjusting to a new, different kind of woman. So, Indiana Jones was a big inspiration.”
And Jenkins looked to “Casablanca” as source material for the love story between Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor.
“I wanted a great love story where both characters have integrity and it might be set in the complexity of war, but it turns into a grand love story,” she said.
“Wonder Woman” stars Pine, Gal Gadot, Robin Wright and Danny Huston and will hit theaters on June 2.
Every 2017 Studio Movie With a Female Director, From 'Wonder Woman' to 'Pitch Perfect 3' (Photos)
Patty Jenkins and Lucia Aniello are two of the seven female directors whose movies for the major studios are getting wide releases in 2017
January 6: "Underworld: Blood Wars"
Anna Foerster made her directorial debut on the fifth installment in the action series starring Kate Beckinsale as a badass vampire hunter.
Sony Screen Gems
April 21: "Unforgettable" (Warner Bros.)
"Unforgettable" stars Katherine Heigl, Rosario Dawson and Whitney Cummings and is directed by Denise Di Novi.
Warner Bros.
May 19: "Everything, Everything" (Warner Bros.)
"Everything, Everything" is directed by Stella Meghie and follows a girl who is allergic to everything and isolates herself but falls in love with the boy next door.
Warner Bros.
June 2: "Wonder Woman" (Warner Bros.)
Patty Jenkins directed the DC Comics film starring Gal Gadot as the warrior princess of the Amazonian people a.k.a. Diana Prince.
Warner Bros.
June 16: "Rough Night" (Sony)
"Rough Night," previously called "Rock That Body," is Sony's only female-directed release this year. Lucia Aniello's comedy stars Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon and Jillian Bell as women on a bachelorette party from hell.
Sony
July 28: "An Inconvenient Sequel" (Paramount)
Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk co-directed the sequel to Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary After Al Gore's environmental documentary "The Inconvenient Truth."
Paramount
December 22: "Pitch Perfect 3" (Universal)
After Elizabeth Banks dropped out as the director, Trish Sie stepped in to helm the third film in the "Pitch Perfect" franchise. Rebel Wilson, Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow return as collegiate a capella singers.
Universal
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Studios continue to lag when it comes to hiring female directors
Patty Jenkins and Lucia Aniello are two of the seven female directors whose movies for the major studios are getting wide releases in 2017