I don’t know about you but after we reported that Patty Jenkins was ‘close’ to signing a deal for the next Wonder Woman film, I started getting nervous. I just thought of all the ways the-powers-that-be could muck this up. We see it happen all the time. Especially when I heard the hang-up was Patty asking for what she was due, then I thought up even more ways she could be sabotaged. Well, as of Monday, I can finally stop holding my breath on this because a deal was reached and signed. The end result catapults Patty to the status of the highest paid female director in history.
Patty Jenkins has closed a deal to direct the sequel to the summer hit “Wonder Woman.”
Gal Gadot has already signed on to return in the title role. The film is slated for release on Dec. 13, 2019.
Variety was first to report that Jenkins was already working on a script for the sequel with Geoff Johns, who oversees the DC film universe along with Jon Berg for Warner Bros. “The goal is to make another great ‘Wonder Woman’ film,” Johns said at the time.
While an exact number could not be unveiled, sources say the number is in the $8 million dollar range to write, direct and produce making her the highest paid female director of all time. A substantial backend of box office grosses is also included in the contract.
The Hollywood Reporter confirms the amount of final front end figure as “somewhere in the $7 million to $9 million.” Patty made $1M for the first film so this is a huge leap. And well-deserved I think. Patty was able to communicate her vision while still fitting it within the DCEU. Not to mention the first WW made $813 worldwide, for which she deserves her share of the credit. Last year, the highest paid director was Christopher Nolan, with a $20M up front deal. Christopher has 10 feature films, including the Dark Knight franchise, and Patty has two. She was so smart to do this now. I’m also happy to see that they got Patty to commit for two more movies, that also speaks volumes in their confidence in her.
Remember when James Cameron claimed everyone involved in Wonder Woman was misguided in their “self-congratulatory back-patting,” and mansplained it by patting himself on the back with self-congratulations? Well, Patty, as one of those involved, responded to Cameron’s comments via Twitter:
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) August 25, 2017
The part I like the best is when she states that Cameron didn’t get it because he’s not a woman. You don’t have to think WW is the perfect film to see what it meant for women to have this moment. I re-watched it recently at the request of my son, who hadn’t seen it. When we got to this scene, he called out “whoa” and clapped. I still can’t find the right words to express why that made me so emotional but I know that his enthusiasm had nothing to do with her being a woman, it had to do with her being a bad @$$. After reading this in the LA Times, I found out I was not the only one who cried during the fight scenes.
Photo credit: WENN Photos, Getty Images and Twitter
Cool. Now let’s get more black directors, Asian directors, Hispanic directors behind the camera of major movies.
Hey come on. We can celebrate one person, one moment of moving forward, without bringing it down because the world isn’t perfect yet.
Step one: Patty Jenkins. Step two: a whole lot more
I am celebrating. But I’m not stopping here. This isn’t a whole lot of progress. I’m not here for the baby steps anymore. Hollywood in this day and age can do better.
I’m at a point where I’m done settling for the crumbs
Excellent. Get it Patty.
If she didn’t got signed right away, it’s because WB tried to put shit on her. They offered less money to her than they did with Zac Sneider and yet Superman whatever is not as successful. Anyway kudos to her, she played her cards well.
As she should be, based solely on Wonder Woman’s box office + critical reception. Next step: a place where we won’t need qualifiers on women and non-white-men’s Hollywood accomplishments and/or paychecks. Where someone like Jenkins, or Ava Duvernay or Ryan Coogler, can be lauded as simply the best, instead of the best or first ______ director, and where a wider world of diversity and inclusion is allowed to open up behind them, because there’s never, ever (duh) been a lack of diversity in talent, creativity or ability; only in opportunity.
If we are gonna break it down can we stop lumping ‘Asians’ into one category. There is a monstrous film industry in Hong Long, Korea, India and Japan. Get yer eyes open girl and go check em out:) doesn’t have to be big in the States to be big:) so ya, let’s celebrate Patty Jenkins with no qualifiers 🙂
I think I am the only woman who did not care for this movie. I loved the beginning, and wish it was focused there instead of the endless scenes of her acclimating. Trying on clothes.
I didn’t believe in or care that she fell for Pine’s character, didn’t believe in her mourning his loss, just flat out didn’t invest in WW at all, and found the plot lacking, the lines trite, overall badly edited and a mess.
and I freaking love superhero movies 🙁
Same really.
Oh my God. Watched it two nights ago and felt the same. And the slow-mo EVERYTHING. and I just didn’t care about the plot. So disappointed.
Excellent. Now white women just have to make sure we’re making certain that the door stays open behind us for WOC and other minorities, too.
I totally cried during the fight scenes! When I was a kid, I loved power rangers and sailor moon. Those were really the only super heroes I saw that had woman kicking butt as much as a man. I had been waiting for a film like this. Where they actually took it seriously.
I actually had my husband and 5 year old go see wonder woman in theatres for Father’s day. It was my son’s first time going to the theatre and it was important to me that he saw this film first.
I cried through the fight scenes too. And I watched the movie twice so I was surprised when I cried just as hard during the second viewing. The fight scenes represented to me such a powerful “f@&$ this” moment.
Yeah, so many people were heaping praise on James Cameron for being a man “calling out objectification” when his little mansplanation actually was an example of objectification of women. There really is no need to praise him for being yet another man in a patriarchal society going on about how ‘ FeMENism means them pretty wimmenz need 2 b covered up for their own good because (insert false dichotomy).’ If NO woman can ever be portrayed as ‘progressive,’ ‘worthy of being taken seriously’, ‘feminist’, ‘good’, or as a multidimensional person who can have strength and other positive qualities at all, until everything about her that’s not adrogynous enough or that’s considered sexual/ not modest enough is erased, that’s a problem. It’s still objectification because it’s still female human worth and respectability being determined by how fuckable straight men find us and our willingness to approximate ‘masculinity’. I agree with all of Patty’s tweets.
Her Twitter response to Cameron is everything, yasss!
I also teared up during the fight scenes, I just couldn’t help it because I have never seen sth like it. It just felt powerful. And I so hope they will do a spin-off with the Amazons, they are amazing.
I generally dislike superheroe movies but I loved Wonder Woman. I was so scared that they’d get it wrong but Diana was equal parts fierce and compassionate. You can be many things, including soft, and still be strong. I cried so much during the fight scenes and I want more. So much more. More Amazons. More Antiope. I love that there’s representation (it’s 20-freaking-17) and I want more. And I’ll pay for it.
Good for her. Make that money. The movie was meh though