Wonder Woman Is The Biggest Box Office Movie Of The Moment

Patty Jenkins has broken box office records for a female director after Wonder Woman had a strong opening weekend in cinemas.

The Warner Bros. and DC Comics film appears to have delivered on massively high expectations — as of the Sunday morning the super hero film is looking at a $100.5 million domestic opening weekend from 4,165 locations.

That, combined with an international take of $122.5 million from 55 markets gives the movie a global opening of $223 million. $18.3 million of the global total came from Imax screens — that’s the third biggest opening for a DC Comics film behind “The Dark Knight Rises” and ahead of “Suicide Squad.”

“Globally this property has just resonated with fans, ” said Warner Bros. distribution chief Jeff Goldstein. “There’s something iconic about Diana and the story of Wonder Woman that’s hitting the zeitgeist perfectly.”
Compared with other super hero movies, “Wonder Woman” is expecting a larger domestic opening than “Iron Man” ($98.6 million); “Doctor Strange” ($85 million); “Thor” ($65.7 million); but less than “Deadpool” ($132 million) and “Man of Steel” ($116.6 million).

Patty Jenkins now holds the banner for the best domestic opening for a female director, topping “Fifty Shades of Grey’s” Sam Taylor-Johnson ($85.1 million). Before “Wonder Woman,” Jenkins’ only feature was “Monster” — an Academy Award winner that she made more than a decade ago with an $8 million budget.

Gal Gadot stars in the film as the titular hero. The Israeli actress — also known for her role in the “Fast and Furious” franchise — made her debut as Diana Prince in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and will also appear at least twice more in both “Justice League” movies if she doesn’t get a sequel of her own.

While the opening weekend for “Wonder Woman” is impressive, DC Comics movies have scored more in the past — recently “Batman v Superman” and “Suicide Squad” rocketed to $166 million and $134 million openings respectively.

But “Wonder Woman” had something those movies didn’t — critical support (it currently has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes). The conversation surrounding critics’ impact on the summer box office swirled after “Baywatch” received an aggregate score of 19%, and proceeded to flop over the slowest Memorial Day weekend in nearly two decades.

Goldstein said the studio knew they had “something special” after the reception to Gadot in “Batman v Superman.” “While the story was critically tough, she emerged as a real bright spot,” Goldstein said.