Diana Prince will return: Warner Bros. fast-tracking Wonder Woman 3 with Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot

Gal Gadot's big screen version of Diana Prince will return in a third Wonder Woman movie from writer-director Patty Jenkins. Warner Bros. has decided to fast track the project just two days after Wonder Woman 1984 opened in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously (a strategy that Warner Bros. will apply to its entire 2021 slate). Despite the tentpole's arrival on streaming, the long-awaited DC sequel still brought in over $16 million at the North American box office — securing the the best weekend opening since the COVID-19 pandemic began to wreak havoc on the worldwide theatrical industry back in March. Globally, WW84 has made $85 million so far.

“As fans around the world continue to embrace Diana Prince, driving the strong opening weekend performance of Wonder Woman 1984, we are excited to be able to continue her story with our real life Wonder Women — Gal and Patty — who will return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy,” Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said in a statement.

"Wonder Woman 1984 broke records and exceeded our expectations across all of our key viewing and subscriber metrics in its first 24 hours on the service, and the interest and momentum we’re seeing indicates this will likely continue well beyond the weekend,” added Andy Forssell, Executive Vice President and General Manager, WarnerMedia Direct-to-Consumer. “During these very difficult times, it was nice to give families the option of enjoying this uplifting film at home, where theater viewing wasn’t an option.”

Credit: Warner Bros./ DC Comics

Due to the fact that WW84 was delayed numerous times by the global health crisis, Jenkins was slightly unsure of whether she'd be the one to direct a third installment. In a recent interview, the filmmaker said:

"It's interesting, I actually came up with a story, and Geoff Johns and I beat out an entire story for Wonder Woman 3 that we were super fired up about, but I've never felt this way before as much as I do now. I don't think I'm doing it next and so, I sort of have to wait and see where we are in the world, you know? What I wanted to talk about in [WW84] was very prescient to what I was feeling and what you were feeling was coming. So now I'm not sure. So much has changed in the world. I still love the story that we came up with, I'm sure that parts of it would come over to it, but it's very interesting. I'm trying to say, 'Don't decide. Don't fall in love with anything, see what Wonder Woman would do now. What are you craving Wonder Woman to do in this world?'"

According to WarnerMeedia, the film was streamed by nearly half of all HBO Max subscribers over the weekened. As of October 2020, the fledgling service had 8.6 million customers. Jenkins co-wrote WW84 alongside Johns and Dave Callaham. See what critics think about it here and check out fan reactions here.