Critic
Streaming Isn’t Killing Movie Theaters. It's Making Them Better
The simultaneous release of Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max has caused some angst, but now there's a real chance for change.
Illustration by Tomi Um
The last time Wonder Woman blazed the silver screen, she was saving the world from her half-brother, the god Ares—plus some poison-gas-wielding Germans during World War I—on the cusp of the 1918 influenza pandemic.
It’s almost ironic that she’s back again with another pandemic on our hands. Had this been any other year, the critically acclaimed Wonder Woman 1984, directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot, would be a certified blockbuster. Her latest adventures in the Reagan era against superhuman villainess Cheetah took in only $38.5 million overseas its first weekend.