Wonder Woman director shuts down claims that movie is "a mess"
After the negative receptions to Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad this year, there is more pressure than ever on Wonder Woman to deliver the surefire hit that Warner Bros' DC movie franchise sorely needs. The first poster and trailer for the film had many feeling optimistic, but an open letter (via Pajiba) written by a former WB employee claims that Wonder Woman is also a mess in the making:
"What are you even doing? I wish to God you were forced to live out of a car until you made a #1 movie of the year. Maybe Wonder Woman wouldn’t be such a mess. Don’t try to hide behind the great trailer. People inside are already confirming it’s another mess. It is almost impressive how you keep rewarding the same producers and executives for making the same mistakes, over and over".
Now Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has weighed in on the rumour via Twitter, and you can read what she had to say below...
Woah, just saw this press about WW having problems. Are they serious? This is some made up bs right here. Made up! Produce a source, anyone.August 12, 2016
You can’t because it’s entirely false. Don’t believe the hype people. Someone’s trying to spread some serious misinfo.August 12, 2016
Isn’t until you are intimately involved in these things that you realize how totally false these rumors can. Let me reassure you...August 12, 2016
Zero about the movie we are making has been called a mess by anyone in the know. Fact.August 12, 2016
Real lasso of truth, time, will reveal that letter to be false soon enough. But lame something so transparent in its agenda gets traction.August 12, 2016
There's a few ways we can look at this; Either Jenkins is taking one for the DC team and rubbishing valid claims - similar to how David Ayer has stated that Suicide Squad's theatrical cut is his despite numerous reports to the contrary - or there is no truth to the rumours at all. I'm leaning towards the latter option right now for a few reasons:
- The letter was written by a clearly disgruntled former employee
- Studio execs don't always know what film they have on their hands. Warner Bros. were very worried about Mad Max: Fury Road pre-release, and we all know how that turned out
- Nothing the employee says in the letter indicates that he/she was intimately involved behind-the-scenes with Wonder Woman
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- The movie is still 10 months away from release. There's no way to know if the film is a mess or not yet
Even if I'm wrong about all of that, the letter still represents the opinion of exactly one person. When Wonder Woman arrives in cinemas next year, we can judge the film on our own terms.
Directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Lucy Davis, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, and Saïd Taghmaoui, Wonder Woman will open in cinemas on June 23, 2017.
Images: Warner Bros.
Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for 12DOVE, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.