Lainey emailed me this morning about being “stressed” about how she is going to watch Wonder Woman 1984 later this month. For Canada, the stress is real. With no HBO Max and not ideal circumstances for going to movie theaters right now, how to see WW84 is a stressful situation. (Lainey: first world stress, obviously. At the same time, as an entertainment reporter, it’s my job to make sure I’m on top of big entertainment headlines and this is the biggest movie of the year.) For me it’s easy—I’ll watch on HBO Max. Canada remains in a strange limbo, though. Typically, Canada is grouped with America as part of the “domestic box office”, but for the HBO Max day-and-date roll out, it looks like it is considered “international”. HBO Max hasn’t launched in Canada yet, and there is no information if HBO’s usual carrier deal with Crave will apply for this movie. I assume it will not, and Canadians will have to risk the movie theater for WW84, which given the current COVID situation, really sucks. Sorry, Canada.
And not to rub it in your noses or anything, but a new clip of WW84 dropped during the MTV Movie Awards, and this movie looks dope. I continue to love the dynamic of Diana doing wonderful, impossible things and Steve Trevor looking on with an expression that says, Will you look at her go?
There is also a new trailer from CCXP, Brazil’s Comic Con Experience, which says, “We’ll all share in the wonder.” I mean, not really. Not in places where theater-going isn’t safe. I have wondered—no pun intended—if there are areas on the globe where attendance is depressed, if Warner Brothers will rush to strike deals with local cable providers, like Crave and Sky in the UK. For instance, if WW84 opens in Canada and no one rushes out to see it, does that incentivize Warners to make WW84 available on demand in Canada? I can’t see why they wouldn’t work to ensure as many people as possible can see this movie, even if HBO Max isn’t available internationally. I won’t be shocked if by the end of January, WW84 is available to rent on demand in many places around the world. It won’t be the same as opening-day access, but it’s better than nothing. If you’re stressed about going to see WW84 because theaters are your only option and theaters don’t feel safe right now, don’t give up hope. There are still ways WW84 can be made available, safely, to everyone. At this point, I don’t think anything is off the table.
