‘Wonder Woman’ Is the Top-Grossing Summer Movie of 2017 in the U.S.
Our children won’t believe us when we tell them that there used to be doubt over whether a female-fronted superhero movie would work at the box office. Even at present, the days of studio executive hand-wringing over whether audiences would deign to shell out their precious $11.75 to see a film in which a woman — who was not a man — did superhero things feel favorably remote. For director Patty Jenkins and her marble-carved star Gal Gadot have proven beyond all debate and rage-choked internet commenting that women are perfectly capable of making a whole mess of money during blockbuster season. And now it’s official.
Variety reports that over this past weekend, Wonder Woman surpassed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to become the highest-grossing film of the summer. Hitting a high of $389 million in domestic earnings, Diana the indestructible Amazon has edged out Star-Lord and his gang of cosmos-hopping rapscallion pals, whose grosses plateaued at $387 million. (Though the Guardians still has the edge globally, with $860 million to Wonder Woman’s $779 million.) Jenkins and Gadot are still a step away from total 2017 box-office supremacy, however, with Wonder Woman’s haul trailing the Beauty and the Beast remake’s staggering $504 million take.
By Hollywood logic, this should guarantee several sequels for this iteration of Diana (the details on the next one are still being hashed out; Jenkins claims to be currently working on a new script) as well as a lifetime pass for the director. Will Warner Bros. know what to do with this sudden windfall of success?