‘Wonder Woman 1984’ will debut both in theaters and HBO Max Christmas day

Superhero fans got a sneak peek of their upcoming Christmas gift. Many were skeptical that the highly-anticipated Wonder Woman sequel starring Gal Gadot, “Wonder Woman 1984” would keep its Christmas Day release date but it’s coming! And you don’t have to risk going to the movie theaters to watch it. A new trailer was either leaked or accidentally posted with the news Wednesday on the Warner Bros Youtube account. The video quickly went private but screenshots were posted on Twitter that showed the final screen in the trailer read “IN THEATERS AND ON HBO MAX,” December 25th, 2020. Warner Bros confirmed the news shortly after. The leak comes after much speculation about what Warners Bros would decide to do during the seemingly never-ending pandemic where 50% of U.S. cinemas are closed.

“Wonder Woman 1984” was expected to be one of the biggest and highest-grossing movies of the year. It reportedly had the potential to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales. The film was supposed to hit theaters this past summer but was delayed several times due to COVID-19. “As we navigate these unprecedented times, we’ve had to be innovative in keeping our businesses moving forward while continuing to super-serve our fans,” said Ann Sarnoff, chair and CEO of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures. “This is an amazing film that really comes to life on the big screen and, working with our partners in the exhibition community, we will provide that option to consumers in the U.S. where theaters are open. We realize that a lot of consumers can’t go back to the movies due to the pandemic, so we also want to give them the option to see Wonder Woman 1984 via our HBO Max platform.”

Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group said, “We appreciate how patient audiences have been and given the great anticipation around WONDER WOMAN 1984 we are grateful to be able to make this terrifically entertaining movie widely available in these challenging times.”

Per IGN, the decision seems to be the middle ground between Warner Bro’s and the film‘s director, Patty Jenkins. Variety previously reported that Warner Bro’s was considering the possibility of either another delay to Summer 2021 or a streaming release. But Jenkins had remained adamant the sequel not skip theaters entirely. Jenkins also confirmed the news on Twitter Wednesday and wrote, “At some point you have to choose to share any love and joy you have to give, over everything else. We love our movie as we love our fans, so we truly hope that our film brings a little bit of joy and reprieve to all of you this holiday season.”

“Wonder Woman 1984” will be released simultaneously in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming platform in the U.S. on December 25, while debuting theatrically in international markets a week prior starting on December 16. The film will be available at no additional cost to HBO max subscribers for a month.