Chris Pine Admits He Was Stunned When Wonder Woman 3 Was Cancelled

Pine says it's above his pay grade, but he doesn't understand how it happened.

By Russ Burlingame

Chris Pine says he was "stunned" to discover that Warner Bros. had decided to change course on the Wonder Woman franchise, cancelling the planned third installment in the series. The first film in the franchise remains one of the most beloved comic book movies of the last 20 years, and the best-reviewed movie in the DC Extended Universe franchise, which ran from 2012's Man of Steel up through last year's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The second movie in the franchise, Wonder Woman 1984, was not nearly as popular with fans and critics, and due to its 2020 release date also only managed to bring in $169 from the global box office.

Even after the disappointment of Wonder Woman 1984, Warner Bros. and Patty Jenkins were both talking about working together on a third installment. That seemingly fell off the schedule around the time Warners brought in James Gunn and Peter Safran to reboot the DC Universe.

"I'm stunned that they said no to a billion-dollar franchise and decided to pivot elsewhere," Pine told Business Insider. "I don't know what the reasoning was behind that; it's above my pay grade, but Wonder Woman is an incredible character; Patty is such a thoughtful director."

Regardless, it seems Pine had already assumed he wasn't returning. After all, he had died twice over the course of about 75 years by that point.

"It would be ridiculous to try to bring me back," Pine admitted.

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Jenkins won't be involved, but DC is developing a new series set on Paradise Island. An Amazons spinoff was also planned while Jenkins and the old management team was in charge, but that's not the same project as the one currently being developed. Jenkins has said that she doesn't think she will be coming back to the franchise, and original Wonder Woman TV series star Lynda Carter has said the same. At the start of the new DC Universe, Gal Gadot teased the idea that she might still return in the new universe, but that feels pretty unlikely from the few things we know so far about James Gunn and Peter Safran's new universe.

You can get the first two Wonder Woman movies on disc and digital now.

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