Wonder Woman grossed $11 million during its Thursday preview screenings in the U.S., kicking off its theatrical run at the domestic box office. The DC Extended Universe movie doubled Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' $5.5. million Thursday preview screenings gross from just last week - keeping the DC superhero solo film on-course to reach the $175 million + global commercial opening that has been predicted by box office analysts.
Starring Gal Gadot as Diana of Themyscira (reprising the role from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice) and directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster), Wonder Woman landed between the Thursday box office preview screening takes for Logan ($9.5 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($17 million), as far as 2017 superhero/comic book movie adaptations are concerned. When compared to similar solo superhero-anchored titles from these past few years alone, the performance of Diana's solo vehicle only becomes all the more impressive.
As Deadline notes in its Wonder Woman box office report, the movie's $11 million Thursday opening was better than that for both Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange ($9.4 million) and Ant-Man ($6.4 million) and it broke the record for best Thursday U.S. box office turnout for a movie directed by a woman, passing the $8.6 million grossed by Sam Taylor-Johnson's Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation. Wonder Woman's Thursday debut was also on the same level as the $11.2 million opening for Guardians of the Galaxy, back in 2014.
The first Guardians of the Galaxy wound up grossing $94.3 million during its first weekend at the U.S. box office, so the odds appear to be in favor of Wonder Woman similarly enjoying the $95 million domestic opening that was projected for the film, earlier this week. It helps that the general audience and critical response to the DCEU film has very much been enthusiastic, with Wonder Woman now "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes thanks to all these positive reviews. That strong word of mouth should further help to ensure that Wonder Woman's box office numbers don't drop heavier than expected after its Friday opening, unlike what happened last week with Dead Men Tell No Tales and the Baywatch reboot (neither of which were either audience and/or critical favorites).
Assuming that Wonder Woman's box office performance remains strong moving forward, the discussion about a sequel should only continue to grow more serious and/or concrete, hereon out. The producers behind the DCEU have confirmed that writing on Wonder Woman 2 hasn't even begun yet, signaling that the project is in the earliest stages of development, at this point in time. Gadot next reprises her turn as Diana in this November's Justice League movie, but we should have a better idea of what the future holds for the character in the DCEU after she teams up with the likes of Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller), well before then.
NEXT: Wonder Woman Easter Eggs & Comic References
Source: Deadline
