You may have heard of the new “Wonder Woman” movie that is to be released June 2nd. Or maybe you haven’t heard about it. There’s a reason for that. Warner Brothers (who is producing the film) isn’t spending much time on advertising. Other than a couple of trailers for the film, Warner Bros. hasn’t done much in regard to publicity. However, they did spend more on advertising for “Wonder Woman” than they did for the film “Suicide Squad” that was released last August. “Suicide Squad” had plenty of trailers and ads but they weren’t all that expensive. W.B spent $2,645,643 on advertising for Suicide Squad. They spent $3,043,212 on “Wonder Woman” advertising. But why?
“Wonder Woman’s” budget was $100m which may seem like a big deal until you look at other superhero films with male leads. “Captain America: Civil War, Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice” both had a budget of $250m. “X-Men: Apocalypse” had a budget of $178m. “Wonder Woman’s” budget is the lowest by far - but why? It may be because Warner Bros. has a lack of confidence in “Wonder Woman” doing well, or it could be their take on women in lead roles overall. Either way, I hope “Wonder Woman” does better than expected to show that a female superhero can do and sell well.
Having a female lead in a superhero film is huge for not only the film industry but women everywhere. Not only is there a female lead but the director, Patty Jenkins, is also female.
Wonder Woman was created in 1941 by a man named William Marston. Marston was a feminist, psychologist and inventor of the lie-detector test. Marston created Wonder Woman with the hope that she would be a parent-friendly alternative to the male superheros. He also wanted her to be someone young girls could look up to. In a 1943 magazine article Marston stated, “Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, power. . .Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weak ones. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.”
However, throughout the years many have debated over Wonder Woman’s appearance - specifically her proportions and clothing. Just last year the United Nations declared October 21st officially “Wonder Woman Day” and appointed the Amazonian Princess as the Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls in celebration the 75th anniversary of the DC heroine who has stood for peace, justice, and equality. This was monumental for female equality and women in general. Then, two months later the title was stripped from Wonder Woman due to a petition signed by 40,000 people who claimed that, “the character's current iteration is that of a large breasted, white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring bodysuit."
Despite these setbacks, Warner Bros. has managed to cast who I (and many others) believe is the perfect woman for the role. Gal Gadot competed in Miss Universe Pageant (which was owned and produced by Donald Trump) as well as serving in the Israeli military which is a mandatory conscription under Israel’s government. She has also spent the past few years at Comic Con emphasizing the importance of female figures in boys’ lives too. Gal considers herself both a feminist and a pacifist. She once stated, ““I think as a feminist, you should be able to wear whatever you like! In any case, there is such a misunderstanding of the concept. Feminism is about equality and choice and freedom. And the writers, Patty and myself all figured that the best way to show that is to show Diana [Wonder Woman] as having no awareness of social roles. She has no gender boundaries. To her, everyone is equal.” Gal believes the character is a way of empowering not only females everywhere but males too.
Even though “Wonder Woman” is officially released in the United States until June 1st at 7:00pm, the film has already gained $6.3m dollars in sales overseas. According to Forbes, “In Taiwan, it scored the third-biggest Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. opening day of all time, besting the likes of “Dr. Strange”, “Batman v Superman’, “Suicide Squad”, “Thor”, “Man of Steel”, “Ant-Man” “Captain America” and both “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. It has earned $1.8m in two days.” In Hong Kong the film earned $829k in two days, in South Korea it earned $1.2m, and in Indonesia $803,000. This weekend the film will open to Russia, Italy, United Kingdom, Brazil and China.Sources
