Warner Bros. says the viral story about Gal Gadot refusing to be in 'Wonder Woman 2' if Brett Ratner is involved is 'false'
- Warner Bros. said the story about Gal Gadot not returning as Wonder Woman if Brett Ratner is involved is false.
- Ratner, who has recently been accused of sexual harassment and assault, is one of the founders of RatPac-Dune Entertainment, which helped finance the first "Wonder Woman."
- The studio's 75-picture deal with RatPac-Dune will likely expire before the sequel is made.
Over the weekend, a Page Six story spread across social media stating that "Wonder Woman" star Gal Gadot had refused to sign up for the sequel if director-producer Brett Ratner was involved.
Ratner, whose production company RatPac-Dune Entertainment helped finance "Wonder Woman" and other major titles for Warner Bros., is one of the major Hollywood players to be accused of sexual assault and harassment in the "Weinstein ripple effect."
Many in Hollywood praised the news of Gadot's ultimatum. It sounded like Gadot was using the leverage she gained by being the face of one of Hollywood's biggest hit movies of the year to help stop enabling behavior in the industry.
Here's a sample of the tweets after the story broke:
The Page Six story seemed to align with Gadot's previous behavior towards Ratner. Before stories broke of Ratner's alleged acts, Gadot backed out of a dinner honoring Ratner where she was to present the award to him.
However, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. vehemently denies the Page Six story to Business Insider.
"It's false," he said, repeating WB's statement about the Page Six story.
In actuality, this is a power play that Gadot probably didn't have to use because by the time "Wonder Woman 2" is ready to be made, the deal between the studio and RatPac-Dune will have expired.
The 2013 deal between the two companies was for 75 pictures over "three or four" years covering Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema releases. If you count future titles RatPac-Dune is involved in at the studio - like Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One," Andy Serkis-directed "Jungle Book," and DC title "Aquaman" in 2018, along with "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" and "Shazam!" in 2019, the count will be 75 titles (or over) by mid-2019.
And you would think Warner Bros. isn't going to renew its deal with the company. At least, if Ratner is still with it.
"Wonder Woman 2" is slated for release in December 2019.
Ratner announced in early November that he would "step away" from his work at the studio. That included the scrapping of a Hugh Hefner biopic he was to direct with Jared Leto playing the recently-deceased Playboy founder.
Business Insider contacted Gal Gadot's representative for comment but did not get an immediate response.