WONDER WOMAN 1984
HBO Max, 3:00 a.m. ET
MOVIE PREMIERE: There’s not a lot of star power to this new Wonder Woman sequel, which premieres today in a few very selected theaters and on HBO Max. Aside from leading lady Gal Gadot and her male co-star Chris Pine, both of whom have attained stardom in genre blockbuster franchises (he as James Kirk in the Star Trek reboot), the biggest celebrity in this outing is former Saturday Night Live player Kristen Wiig, who plays the put-upon woman who eventually morphs into Wonder Woman’s latest adversary, The Cheetah. Also appearing as a villain this time around: former Game of Thrones player Pedro Pascal. But director Patty Jenkins, who directed the original Wonder Woman movie as well, is betting her pile of chips on Gadot and the franchise itself – and it’s a good bet. The popularity of this movie, even on this competitive opening day holiday, should drive millions of new subscribers to the streaming service, doing for HBO Max what Hamilton did earlier this year for Disney+.