Fake News: Wonder Woman smashing records
The headlines all read ‘Wonder Woman Smashing Records’, but it really isn’t. In fact it has a fairly lackluster performance for a comic book movie. The headline should really read “Wonder Woman proves the girls can’t keep up with the boys.”
Buzzfeed: “Wonder Woman” Just Destroyed Box Office Records, And Hollywood Should Never Be The Same
USA Today: ‘Wonder Woman’ is a box-office force, soaring to No. 1 with $100.5M
Cosmopolitan: Wonder Woman Smashes Box Office Records, Makes Over 100 Million Opening Weekend
News.com.au: Wonder Woman’s record-breaking $300 million opening weekend
HuffPost: ‘Wonder Woman’ Shatters Box Office With Biggest Female Director Opening. Ever.
Toronto Sun: ‘Wonder Woman’ wows box office with US$100.5 million debut
That’s a small sample of articles doing the rounds on Facebook and, and I can’t believe I’m saying this; HuffPost is the only one that’s even close to honest. News.com.au had to convert the figure into Australian dollars to make it impressive. What they are actually talking about is the record for biggest opening gross by a female director. The previous record holder was 50 Shades of Grey.
The actual record for domestic opening weekend is held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, well over doubling Wonder Woman with $247M. And the latest Fast and the Furious movie internationally, again well over double with $541M. In fact Wonder Woman with $103M Domestic and $223M internationally, scrapes in 40th and 41st respectively.
Domestically Wonder Woman was edged out by The Jungle Book (2016), barely beating the much older X-Men: The Last Stand even with the help of the ticket price inflation of the last ten years which is not factored in, if it was the all-time most successful movie is still Gone With the Wind. For example, Minions, well out of Wonder Woman’s league at 31st with $115M, beat out Shrek 2 (37th with $108M) not because more people went to see it, but because it came out ten years later.
Internationally Wonder Woman didn’t fare much better. It’s $223M gross narrowly beating out the fan reviled Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for 41st place. Well and truly beaten by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse with $228M.
Indeed even the previous DC movie, the critical flop that was Batman vs Superman, managed 9th domestically with $166M, and 5th internationally with $422M. So Wonder Woman couldn’t even compete with other movies in the same franchise.
In fact the real story for Hollywood this year is The Fate of the Furious. It’s a lackluster 46th domestically with $98M, but number 1 internationally, with $542M, easily beating The Force Awakens at $529M. The majority of movie money is now made outside of the US with the traditional plot driven action movie. They might have convinced American audiences to bend over and take the feminist strap-on, but the world wants Vin Diesel showing off his crucifix in his hotted up muscle car.
Another more interesting conversation is what caused Wonder Woman’s lackluster box office? Two competing theories immediately emerge. Was it feminists telling men not to go? Or was it Gal Gadot’s pro-zionist past? Either way the story of Wonder Woman’s “success” are profoundly exaggerated. Indeed it seems the media has gifted the world most successful female director with the world’s most patronizing participation trophy.
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