Gal Gadot’s ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ further delayed until fall

Warner Bros. on Friday further delayed the summer release of “Wonder Woman 1984” starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot from August to October 2, marking a third date change for the sequel to 2017’s box office hit “Wonder Woman.” The movie had originally been set to hit theatres in November 2019, but Warner Bros. moved it to early June 2020 to tap into the summer movie season.

Once the global pandemic hit earlier this year, the studio changed the date from June to August, and now again until October. Gadot’s “Wonder Woman” was the highest-grossing movie of summer 2017 with $412.5 million in the US and $821.8 million worldwide.

In “Wonder Woman 1984,” Gadot will reprise the role of Amazonian Princess Diana Prince, and the film will take place in the early 1980s during the Cold War between the US and the then-Soviet Union. The film will star Chris Pine, Gadot’s co-star in “Wonder Woman,” and American actress Kristen Wiig as Wonder Woman arch-foe The Cheetah. Like the first movie, the sequel was directed by Patty Jenkins.

Overnight Friday-Saturday, Gadot took to Instagram to announce her excitement. “Wow, it’s finally happening, and I couldn’t be more excited! To all the fans that stuck with us through this time, thank you so much! We couldn’t have done this without you. I’m so excited for you to get to see it #WW84 it will be worth the wait,” she wrote.

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The novel coronavirus health crisis has wreaked havoc on studios as expected releases for other blockbusters were reshuffled and cinemas closed en masse in March.

Warner Bros. announced on Friday that Christopher Nolan’s big-budget sci-fi espionage film “Tenet” will finally be released on July 31. The release date for “Tenet” has been closely watched in all corners of the film industry, which has faced shuttered theaters due to the coronavirus since mid-March.

Movie theaters plan to reopen in July for a vastly different summer season than the one the industry had planned.

The Marvel film “Black Widow” and the ninth installment in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, both expected to arrive in the early summer, have delayed their releases.

“Tenet” will arrive in theaters a week after Disney’s live-action version of “Mulan” is released on July 24.

AMC Theaters, the world’s largest theater operator, said this week it expects to have at least 97% of its locations open by mid-July. The National Association of Theater Owners, the trade group that represents exhibitors, expects some 90-95% of cinemas around the world will open then as well.

Rather than packing multiplexes, AMC says it will keep its cinemas 25-50% full to ensure social distancing. Those won’t be the only changes. Concessions will be ordered via an app and theaters will undergo regular cleanings, AMC has said.