Wonder Woman

It’s official: Gal Gadot’s superhero supreme will return to theaters soon.

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.

Did any new releases come out this weekend? I honestly can’t remember. Someone mentioned that there was a new Marvel movie in theaters - one featuring some sort of Spider-Person - but that can’t be right. I feel like I would’ve seen that, perhaps promoted on an unprecedented level for any superhero movie? Hmm. Well, anyways, here’s the weekend box office estimates as of Sunday afternoon:

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for, Edgar Wright fans: did the filmmaker’s action-packed Baby Driver score big with audiences? Or does this weekend belong to sequels, sequels, and more sequels? This weekend was always going to belong to Despicable Me 3— it’s a big hit with the kiddos, don’t you know— but there’s definitely some room for optimism in how the rest of the weekend Top 10 shook out. Here’s the numbers as of Sunday afternoon:

We all knew Wonder Woman was going to be a box office hit — passing $1 million in its opening weekend, becoming the highest-grossing female-directed live-action film ever made shortly after that — and how it’s shattered a new record. Wonder Woman is now the highest-grossing movie of the DC Extended Universe, passing Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman in box office sales.

When Wonder Woman dominated the box office on its opening weekend (and continued to do so over many more), two questions were on everyone’s minds: Would there be a Wonder Woman 2, and would Patty Jenkins come back to direct it? She hadn’t signed a multiple-film contract, so about a month ago it looked oddly up in the air for her. But she has since announced that she’s working on the sequel treatment, and recently said that yes, she would indeed be back at the helm of Wonder Woman 2.

Another weekend, another Weekend Box Office Report! While it won’t surprise you to find out that Michael Bay’s latest episode of Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots won the weekend, the specifics of that win come with enough asterisks to make even Barry Bonds blush. It was a terrible weekend for Transformers: The Last Knight one on continent and a record-breaking opening on another, which just goes to show how confusing this whole box office thing can be at times. Here’s the projected numbers as of Sunday afternoon:

You will see Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman back onscreen in just a couple months, as one of the key members of Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon’s Justice League. But how long will we have to wait for a sequel? Obviously Wonder Woman 2 will happen. It’s just a matter of when.

If you only look at the surface numbers, this was a pretty predictable week at the box office. Wonder Woman did well, The Mummy did not, and everything else shook out accordingly. That being said, there’s some pretty interesting narratives emerging in the how and why of this weekend’s box office report. Let’s take a look at the rankings as of Sunday afternoon and dive into some of the specifics:

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The film was the top opening ever for a female director.

Behold Chris Pine in all his magnificent handsomeness. The strong jawline. The relaxed confidence. The way with a fedora (New Indiana Jones, anyone?) This is the Chris Pine of Wonder Woman, where he plays Steve Trevor, WWI spy and love interest of Gal Gadot’s Diana. After Trevor’s plane crashes off the coast of Diana’s island home, he becomes the first man to step foot on Themyscira. And Pine, already a star for his portrayal of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek reboot series, is terrific in the role, and great with Gadot. He turns Steve Trevor into one of the best non-super-powered characters in superhero movie history.