Warner Bros. announced Wednesday that "Wonder Woman 1984" will be released both in U.S. theaters and for home streaming on HBO Max on Christmas Day, so fans can choose how they want to view it while staying safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
"At some point, you have to choose to share any love and joy you have to give, over everything else," director Patty Jenkins wrote on Twitter. "We love our movie as we love our fans, so we truly hope that our film brings a little bit of joy and reprieve to all of you this holiday season."
The film will be available on HBO Max for one month at no additional cost to subscribers of the service, Variety reports.
This is not the first time in 2020 a major film has been released straight to digital. Disney's live-action "Mulan" was released to the Disney+ platform. But Disney charged an additional $30 to watch it on top of the monthly subscription price.
The sequel to the 2017 hit "Wonder Woman" was supposed to be released in June, but kept being pushed back as theaters were forced to close during the pandemic.
As blockbusters kept delaying their release dates and as cities and states extended or imposed new lockdowns, many theaters that reopened were forced to shutter once again.
The other big superhero movie that was due out this year was Marvel's "Black Widow." As of now, it's been pushed back to May 2021, a full year after its original release date. Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, has not indicated any plans to send it straight to Disney+ like "Mulan."