Jenkins, wonder director

On Saturday, Warner Bros won over Comic-Con’s big hall by announcing the sequel to this summer’s Wonder Woman.

Three days later, the studio won the internet by announcing the release date for Wonder Woman 2. Now, WB just needs to continue the winning streak by signing up Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins for the sequel. It’s time.

Jenkins, of course, now holds an awfully strong hand in the dealmaking to direct Wonder Woman 2, which will be released on December 13, 2019, the studio said.

The sequel will return star Gal Gadot, who will next appear as Diana Prince in November’s Justice League, the big DC Comics team-up that will also star Ben Affleck as Batman, Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Ray Park (Cyborg) and Ezra Miller (The Flash).

Jenkins came into Wonder Woman as a gifted director on both the big and small screens, but she hadn’t yet guided a blockbuster. Now, she and her superhero smash hold a string of records. Wonder Woman is not only North America’s biggest hit of the summer, having passed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in recent days with a domestic gross of US$389.7 million ($515 million).

Jenkins’ movie is also the year’s fourth-biggest release worldwide, having recently passed the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film with a total global take of US$860 million.

And Wonder Woman still isn’t taking the foot off the gas: The film is holding stronger in North America than any superhero film in more than 15 years.

The pop phenomenon has also set a number of records for a solo female-directed film, including the largest North American opening ever (US$103.3 million) and the biggest live-action hit ever.

But perhaps most crucially for Warner Bros, Jenkins, who delivered her film to market with clean efficiency, provided with Wonder Woman the biggest domestic hit in the DC Extended Universe, as well as the first film in the franchise to win wide critical praise (76 on Metacritic.com; 92 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes).