[ti:‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Opens Strong in the Year of COVID]
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[00:00.04]The new movie Wonder Woman 1984
[00:04.28]has enjoyed a successful opening in 2020.
[00:09.40]The second movie in the Wonder Woman series
[00:13.20]reportedly earned $16.7 million over the Christmas weekend.
[00:21.40]That is not a large amount in a normal year.
[00:26.20]But the coronavirus health crisis
[00:29.12]has changed expectations in the movie business.
[00:33.92]Usually, movie theaters are filled
[00:37.04]throughout the winter holiday season in the United States.
[00:42.52]There are lots of releases and lots of people paying to see them.
[00:48.40]On Christmas Day alone in 2019,
[00:52.52]Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker earned $32 million from filmgoers.
[01:01.24]The media market research company Comscore
[01:04.88]reports that only 35 percent of North American movie theaters
[01:11.08]are even operating right now.
[01:14.84]Wonder Woman 1984 played in about 2,150 theaters.
[01:22.60]Media company HBOMax released it online at the same time.
[01:30.08]The movie made an additional $19.4 million internationally,
[01:37.00]after opening a week earlier.
[01:40.56]To date, Wonder Woman 1984
[01:44.32]has made about $85 million around the world.
[01:50.28]"This is a very weak theatrical opening," said David Gross
[01:55.28]of FranchiseRe, another market research company.
[02:00.60]Noting the many closed theaters and rising COVID-19 rate,
[02:06.48]Gross said, "The majority of moviegoers and fans
[02:11.60]have little choice but to watch the film on television.
[02:16.80]Early foreign openings have been weak as well."
[02:21.56]Patty Jenkins directed and Gal Godot starred in both films in the series.
[02:28.88]The first was a huge success,
[02:32.00]opening with more than $100 million in sales at 4,100 theaters.
[02:40.40]It set a record for biggest opening by a female filmmaker.
[02:45.72]It earned $822 million worldwide.
[02:52.48]Wonder Woman 1984 cost about $200 million to make.
[02:59.40]Before COVID-19 appeared, the film had been expected
[03:04.20]to earn about $1 billion from movie theater attendance.
[03:10.68]FranchiseRE predicts that total earnings
[03:14.40]will be around $180 million.
[03:18.52]WarnerMedia owns the film series.
[03:21.68]It is counting on Wonder Woman 1984
[03:25.88]to matter more to HBO Max, a movie service.
[03:31.48]There were some reports of technical problems, however,
[03:35.32]from fans trying to watch online.
[03:39.36]But Warner Bros. Studio is praising the performance
[03:43.36]as the best that could be expected, given the current conditions.
[03:49.16]The studio on Sunday announced
[03:51.80]that it would speed production of a third Wonder Woman film,
[03:57.32]with Jenkins and Gadot returning.
[04:00.96]"Wonder Woman 1984 broke records
[04:04.60]and exceeded our expectations,"
[04:08.12]said Andy Forssell, a WarnerMedia official.
[04:12.96]"During these very difficult times,
[04:15.84]it was nice to give families the option
[04:19.00]of enjoying this uplifting film at home," he added.
[04:25.12]I'm Caty Weaver. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM