Doctor Strange has just arrived in theaters all in hopes to deliver a magical experience that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has to offer. Since there's a new Marvel movie, this means we also get to watch a brand new trailer for the upcoming DC Extended Universe film, Wonder Woman. The general consensus for the trailer is fairly positive, but so have the previous DCEU films. Now we have to wonder if will fail to live to our expectations like the previous DCEU films.
Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad all have suffered from critical reception with the critics and the audiences but somehow managed to make enough money to earn a profit with ridiculously high budgets. I give props to Warner Brothers' marketing department. They know how to sell their movies to the public. All three films have made over $100 million in their respected opening weekends. Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad got lucky with their release dates. March and August aren't the most competitive times for film. Wonder Woman is different.
Wonder Woman will be released on June 2nd, which is a prime release date for the summer blockbuster season. If Wonder Woman fails to deliver, it won't have a few weeks to grab the #1 spot against the following films within weeks after its release. If it fails to deliver, it's box office return will take a huge toll.
To give you an example of how important Wonder Woman's quality is, it will open a week after Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Pirates' predecessor, On Stranger Tides, made a little over $90 million on its opening weekend and made over $1 billion worldwide at the end of its box office run. Say what you want about the quality of the Pirates films. They're somehow making over a billion at the box office. One could argue that the fifth installment will not deliver as well since it's being released six years after its predecessor. While that is a valid statement, this is still a well-known franchise. We'll only be sure in May. On June 9th, the Mummy reboot will release. I'm predicting that it won't be a juggernaut at the box office, but it'll still take some money that Wonder Woman could be earning either from repeat viewings or first-time viewings. If Mummy earns a good reception, that will only be worse news for Wonder Woman. On June 16th, Cars 3 and Kingsman: The Golden Circle will hit the silver screen. These two releases are crucial. Cars 3 will have a good box office run based on the sole fact that it's a Pixar film. It'll be a safe movie for parents to take their kids to. Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a sequel to one of the best action movies of 2015. It had a rather successful box office run. It stayed in the top five of the at the box office for six consecutive weekends. That is the power of good word of mouth. Any film can have a huge opening weekend just by having good marketing. The following weekends all depend on the word of mouth. If Wonder Woman has bad word of mouth, audiences will more than likely have an incentive to skip it and choose another film like Kingsman. And it doesn't stop there. Transformers: The Last Knight will be released on June 23rd. Despicable Me 3 will be released on June 30th. In July, we'll receive Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, Dunkirk, and much more. It's safe to say that Wonder Woman HAS to be good.
Not only could its box office be in jeopardy, but also the hype for Justice League. Wonder Woman will lead right into Justice League and if the audience doesn't like Wonder Woman, why should they care about Justice League?
Despite the quality of Batman v. Superman, the general consensus for Wonder Woman's role is fairly positive. Many say she was the best part of the movie, and that is a great sign for the upcoming Wonder Woman film.
It's easy to get excited for Wonder Woman just by watching the trailers. They're good! WB knows how to sell us with their cool visuals and best snippets in trailers, but they haven't been able to live up to expectations that they set up with their trailers. That is why I try not to get too excited when I watch the Wonder Woman trailers.
I, and many others want Wonder Woman to be good. We shouldn't have to feel punished for getting excited. Warner Brothers realistically has one more chance to win the audience over. Let's hope they do that with Wonder Woman.