Warner Bros. was surprised by the success of 'Wonder Woman' - and they'll have to pay for it
Though WB is overjoyed by the box-office success of its latest DC Comics Extended Universe release, according to reports, it didn't sign on the movie's director, Patty Jenkins, for a sequel. Now the studio is under fire from fans who want to see Jenkins return to continue telling the adventures of Diana Prince (played by Gal Gadot), after the movie opened to acclaim and exceeded projections at the box office.
It looks like the studio undershooting how well "Wonder Woman" would perform, along with plans to develop "Justice League Dark" and a Batgirl movie, led to its lack of attention to a "Wonder Woman" sequel.
One sign of the studio's surprise at the overwhelmingly positive reaction to "Wonder Woman" is its decision to move up the review embargo. For most movies, especially blockbusters, studios give critics a date and time when they can go live with reviews. Following early press screenings of the movie, Warner Bros. shifted that date a few days earlier, making it clear it was confident in how the movie would be received.
"Wonder Woman" has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and had the biggest box-office opening ever for a female director.
Warner Bros. certainly would have had better negotiating footing if it locked down Jenkins prior to the release of "Wonder Woman," but now the leverage is clearly on Jenkins' side as sequel negotiations begin.
And Jenkins is certainly up for another movie. As she told Business Insider during our Facebook Live interview with her, "I would love to and we're all definitely excited about it."
Warner Bros. did not immediately reply to Business Insider's request for comment.
Watch our entire interview with Patty Jenkins below: