#Wonder Woman 1984 smashes COVID-19 box office record

“Wonder Woman” is a knockout at the box office.

Released on Christmas Day, “Wonder Woman 1984” was the highest box office opening of the pandemic, hauling in $16.7 million in ticket sales in the US and $36.1 million globally, according to Warner Bros.

The sequel to the 2017 hit starring Gal Gadot was released in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service on the same day.

Now, a third installment is being “fast-tracked,” the movie studio said on Sunday. 

“Wonder Woman 1984 broke records and exceeded our expectations across all of our key viewing and subscriber metrics in its first 24 hours on the service, and the interest and momentum we’re seeing indicates this will likely continue well beyond the weekend,” Andy Forssell, executive vice president and general manager of WarnerMedia Direct-to-Consumer, said in a statement. “During these very difficult times, it was nice to give families the option of enjoying this uplifting film at home, where theater viewing wasn’t an option.”

Nearly two-thirds of movie theaters in the US are closed right now, which is why the studio opted to release the flick online at the same time.

Total viewing hours on HBO Max tripled on Christmas Day compared with a typical day in November, the company said.

The third installment of the action movie will be written and directed by Patty Jenkins — who was at the helm of the first two — and star Gadot again, Warner Bros. said.

But not everyone loved the sequel.

Review site Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 65 percent, with critics maintaining that it “struggles with sequel overload” while acknowledging that its “still offers enough vibrant escapism to satisfy fans of the franchise.” The audience score was 73 percent, according to the review site.

Rotten Tomatoes gave the first “Wonder Woman” a 93 percent rating in 2017.