Warner Bros. has confirmed its intention to release Wonder Woman 1984 and Tenet in theaters and NOT straight to streaming, clarifying recent comments made by WarnerMedia. In the weeks since the coronavirus pandemic took a turn for the worse in mid-March, studios like WB, Sony, and Disney have not only overhauled their release slates for the remainder of 2020 (and beyond), they've also started to consider alternative distribution models for getting their movies out to people while they're stuck at home. For the time being, however, the vast majority of theatrical releases delayed by the spread of the virus have either been rescheduled or are expected to be at some point in the future.

There was, of course, a report back in March claiming Wonder Woman 1984 could potentially go straight to streaming, but the studio quickly came out and said that wouldn't be happening. The Wonder Woman sequel has since been bumped back to mid-August, with director Patty Jenkins even reaffirming "We made Wonder Woman 1984 for the big screen" in a statement. All the while, Christopher Nolan's latest big-budget sci-fi thriller, Tenet, has yet to budge from its previously-scheduled release date in mid-July, even as it remains unclear whether theaters will even be reopen for business by then.

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In new statements to THR, WB CEO Ann Sarnoff and WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey once again confirmed their commitment to releasing Wonder Woman 1984 and Tenet in theaters first, saying "We remain supportive of the theatrical experience and our exhibition partners." The comments were made shortly after Stankey (speaking during an investors call) revealed WarnerMedia is "rethinking the theatrical model" in the wake of the ongoing health crisis. As Stankey explained to THR, that doesn't mean the studio is anticipating releasing the majority of its films straight to streaming moving forward:

Theatrical films have always been a major part of the our ecosystem. I fully expect that as we evaluate our business going forward, we will continue to champion creative work that is worthy of the theatrical experience.

Wonder Woman 1984 poster Gal Gadot

As has been pointed out before, films like Wonder Woman 1984 and Tenet are dependent on their performance at the international box office to make a profit, and it would be extremely difficult-to-impossible for them to gross the same amount via on-demand rentals. Because of this, it's safe to assume those movies will eventually make their way to the big screen, even as WB continues to rethink whether certain delayed titles would be better off going straight to streaming, rather than waiting to hit theaters at a later time. And while they did just announce plans to release their Scooby-Doo reboot SCOOB! directly on-demand on its original theatrical premiere date, that's probably going to be the exception and not the rule moving forward. (As THR notes in their report, there was also a merchandising element making it difficult for them to delay SCOOB! specifically, similar to this month's Trolls World Tour.)

That being said, it's anyone's guess when theaters will actually reopen their doors at this stage. Chains like Cinemark are hoping to begin showing new movies around the middle of July (beginning with Tenet), but many feel they're being overly optimistic with that timeline, and even Wonder Woman 1984 costar Connie Nielsen has expressed her doubts about theaters being up and running again by the time the sequel's mid-August release date rolls around. Still, whenever that does happen, audiences can look forward to getting to enjoy WB's latest big-budget spectacles in all their glory on the big screen.

NEXT: What Happens If ALL 2020 Movies Never Hit Theaters

Source: THR

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