Director Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 was canceled by DC, and Chris Pine was “stunned,” saying the studio lost out on a billion-dollar franchise.
After starring in Wonder Woman and its follow-up Wonder Woman 1984, Pine told Business Insider he wasn’t expecting to take on the role of Steve Trevor. Despite this, he was still surprised that DC decided to abandon the Gal Gadot-led franchise.
“I’m stunned that they said no to a billion-dollar franchise and decided to pivot elsewhere. I don’t know what the reasoning was behind that; it’s above my pay grade, but Wonder Woman is an incredible character; Patty is such a thoughtful director,” Pine said.
Jenkins directed two Warner Bros. comic book tentpoles, “Wonder Woman” (2017) and “Wonder Woman 1984” (2022), in which Pine played Steve Trevor opposite Gal Gadot’s “Wonder Woman.” Jenkins was working on a third film for Gadot’s superhero when James Gunn and Peter Safran became the studio’s new executives. Gadot’s Wonder Woman isn’t a part of the new DC Universe that the two are constructing.
Though it fell short of becoming a billion dollar franchise for DC, Wonder Woman came very close. The box office receipts for the 2017 original film brought in $824 million, while the 2020 follow-up brought in $170 million. This puts it at $994 million. A third Wonder Woman movie would undoubtedly push it over the $1 billion mark, even though DC’s most recent releases have done poorly at the box office.
Warner Bros. announced Wonder Woman 3 in December 2020, with Jenkins and Gadot expected to return. However, the movie was quietly canceled despite the star’s belief to the contrary, as James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios and ended the Gadot, Henry Cavill, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-starring DC Extended Universe.
Along with confirming Wonder Woman’s cancellation, director Patty Jenkins revealed a new universe led by James Gunn and Peter Safran.
She said, “They aren’t interested in doing any ‘Wonder Woman’ for the time being,” in a podcast.
Jenkins added, “I never walked away,” in a post on her X (formerly known as Twitter) account.
“I was open to considering anything asked of me. It was my understanding there was nothing I could do to move anything forward at this time. DC is obviously buried in changes they are having to make, so I understand these decisions are difficult right now,” she said.
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