Patty Jenkins says for 'Wonder Woman' she was paid 7 times less than male directors and despite getting a record-breaking raise to do the sequel 'they got paid more than me still'

• "Wonder Woman 1984" director Patty Jenkins opened up about the struggle to get a raise to make her sequel.
• Jenkins said in the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast that she made the case to Warner Bros. that male superhero directors were "paid seven times more than me for the first superhero movie."
• It led to her landing a payday for "Wonder Woman 1984" that made her the highest-paid female director ever. But Jenkins said it still didn't match what male directors get for a superhero movie sequel.
• "They got paid more than me still," she added.

It's hard to believe, but even after the global box office success of "Wonder Woman" in 2017, director Patty Jenkins still had to fight for a raise when talks started about a sequel, she said.

Jenkins was best known in the industry for directing Charlize Theron's Oscar-winning performance in the gritty 2003 independent film "Monster," before landing the directing gig for the long-awaited DC Comics movie, which she turned into a sensation.

So when the sequel, "Wonder Woman 1984," came up, Jenkins said it was time for Warner Bros. to pay her like her male counterparts.

"It was easy to find that all of the men, they made an independent film and then they made a first [superhero] movie, they got paid seven times more than me for the first superhero movie," Jenkins said on the December 16 episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast. "So it was an easy fight to say this can't be, and it really can't be on 'Wonder Woman.'"

Jenkins admitted that asking for more money was uncomfortable, mainly because up until that point in her career, she hadn't felt like she was entitled to do it.

"It's interesting as someone who never made any profit in my career up until 'Wonder Woman,' that I was always at peace with it," she said. "I was like, 'Hey I get it.' But now I was like, 'Listen, I never made any money in my career because you always had the leverage and I didn't,' but now the shoe is on the other foot so it's time to turn the tables."

And Jenkins revealed that at one point, she was ready to walk away from the "Wonder Woman" franchise if she wasn't paid fairly.

"I started to walk away, I was gonna walk away," she said. "I even said I'd be happy to go to another studio and make a quarter as much because it's not a sequel on principle. No problem."

But finally Jenkins got a pay bump especially since along with directing "Wonder Woman 1984," Jenkins also has a producer, story by, and screenwriting credit. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter noted that the deal made Jenkins the highest-paid female director ever. The deal was in the range between $7 million to $9 million with a "considerable backend."

Though compared to what her male colleagues get for directing a superhero sequel, "they got paid more than me still," Jenkins admitted on the podcast.

"Wonder Woman 1984" looks at Wonder Woman in the 1980s as she takes on villains Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) and Cheetah (Kirsten Wiig) and is reunited with her long love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine).

Jenkins will follow this up by directing a movie in the iconic "Star Wars" franchise, "Star Wars: Rogue Squadron." She will be one of the first female directors to helm a "Star Wars" movie.

"Wonder Woman 1984" will open in theaters and HBO Max on Christmas Day.