‘Wonder Woman 2’ Finally, Officially Lassos Director Patty Jenkins
It’s official:Patty Jenkinsis returning to directWonder Woman 2.
After prolonged discussions with Warner Bros. over the course of several months after the record-breaking box office success ofWonder Woman, Jenkins has been confirmed to direct theWonder Womansequel. And if previous reports are true, this has just made Jenkins thehighest-paid female directorin Hollywood.
Varietyconfirmed the news of Jenkins' return to direct theWonder Womansequel on Monday:
Wonder Womanwas a runaway — or rather, a flyaway — hit at the box office this summer, raking in $813 million worldwide and shattering records as the highest-grossinglive-action film directed by a female director, the highest-grossingDC Extended Universe movie, the highest-grossingsuperhero origin movie domestically, and thewinner of the summer movie seasonboth critically and commercially.
A sequel was greenlit almost immediately afterWonder Womansurprised Hollywood with its extraordinary reviews and opening weekend, with starGal Gadotset to return. As news reports came in that Jenkins was working on aWonder Woman 2script with DC Films co-headGeoff Johns(teasing a 1980s Cold War-era setting), the only thing that wasn’t confirmed was Jenkins' participation behind the camera. It set the Interwebs ablaze with speculation: why would Jenkins not return to the film that rocketed the DCEU into the critically beloved superhero movie stratosphere after Warner Bros. struggled to makeBatman v. Superman: Dawn of JusticeandSuicide Squadboth critical and commercial hits? And withWonder Woman’s pivotal role in Warner Bros.' new mantra of optimistic and “fun” superhero movies, why wouldn’t Jenkins be at the helm of this new direction?
It turns out that Jenkins was hard at work on making sure she was paid adequately for what she achieved as the director ofWonder Woman. Much fuss was made over Gal Gadot’s base pay inWonder Woman— though the reports turned out to be on false claims — but not as much notice was given to Jenkins' pay. Women are critically underserved in Hollywood, both in front and behind the camera, and the wage gap can be seen regularly in Forbes’annual highest-paid actors and actresses lists. There is agrowing awareness that women get fewer chancesto direct high-profile films than men, even after they’ve proven themselves in the television field or with a feature film hit.
Directors like Ava DuVernay are working to spotlight and hire more female directors and crew members, and it looks like Jenkins has been fighting the pay inequity fight. It seems to have paid off.
