Variety reports a new study by marketing data analytics firm Movio reveals female and older moviegoers helped lead to the incredible success of Wonder Woman at the box office.
The DCEU’s first female-led installment grossed a total of $103 million in its opening weekend, setting the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a female-directed film at the domestic box office. While the film may have had the lowest opening weekend for a film set in the DCEU, Wonder Woman has now gone on to gross a total of $356.7 million domestically in 34 days, setting the film as the highest-grossing installment to the DCEU over last year’s superhero epic Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which took a total of $330.3 million in its domestic box office run.
The Amazonian princess stands as the third highest-grossing film of 2017 domestically, placing behind only Beauty and the Beast‘s $503.5 million and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s $376.2 million. If Wonder Woman manages to finish its domestic run with a total of $365 million or higher, the film will rank among the top ten highest grossing comic book films behind Spider-Man 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises, Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Dark Knight, and Avengers. Currently, the film remains as the 38th highest domestic grosser of all time.
Worldwide, Wonder Woman has also outgrossed the $609.8 million made by Mamma Mia! at the global box office, crowning director Patty Jenkins as the highest-grossing female director of a live-action film. The film has also managed to outperform Kung Fu Panda 2‘s global take of $665.7 million, making Wonder Woman the highest grossing female directed film of all time (sans a male co-director) period. The $720 million worldwide take of Wonder Woman has helped push the DCEU past the $3 billion mark at the global box office.
Matthew Liebmann, Movio’s senior VP for the Americas said that the film’s female audience was on par with its male audience by the third week:
“Wonder Woman’s audience evolved in a similar manner as most blockbusters but with some trends notably magnified. While the female and 50+ segments of the audience generally grow over the course of the run, ‘Wonder Woman’s’ female audience nearly reached parity with the male audience by the third week.”
Liebmann told the trade that it’s unprecedented for a female audience to equal a male audience for a tentpole superhero film. An average superhero flick draws a 62% male audience. The Movio VP said that “Even ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ which had a strong female lead with Daisy Ridley, never got closer than 56-44 male.” Liebmann credited strong reviews and word-of mouth as the major factors that ultimately drove the film’s performance at the box office beyond opening weekend.
The film stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Robin Wright as General Antiope, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, Lisa Loven Kongsli as Menalippe, Danny Huston as General Erich Ludendorff, David Thewlis as Sir Patrick Morgan, Elena Anaya as Doctor Maru, Ewen Bremner as Charlie, Saïd Taghmaoui as Sameer and Eugene Brave Rock as the Chief. Here’s the official synopsis:
’Wonder Woman’ hits movie theaters around the world next summer when Gal Gadot returns as the title character in the epic action adventure from director Patty Jenkins. Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny.
Wonder Woman is now playing.
Source: Variety
