This summer’s Wonder Woman is one of 2017’s biggest success stories, receiving rave reviews from audiences and critics and becoming the highest-grossing live-action movie directed by a woman. A sequel has, naturally, been announced, with both director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot returning—but there’s a catch. Following multiple sexual misconduct and harassment allegations against producer Brett Ratner, Gadot has reportedly said that she will not return to the franchise if Ratner will continue to profit off of it. Ratner’s RatPac-Dune Entertainment had a co-financing deal with Warner Bros., one the studio elected not to renew after 2018 in light of the allegations.
An unnamed source tells Page Six that Gadot doesn’t want a series celebrating women’s empowerment to benefit a man accused of harassing women. “She’s tough and stands by her principles,” the source said. “She also knows the best way to hit people like Brett Ratner is in the wallet. She also knows that Warner Bros. has to side with her on this issue as it develops. They can’t have a movie rooted in women’s empowerment being part-financed by a man accused of sexual misconduct against women.”
Over the past few weeks, allegations against Ratner have multiplied up, coming from stars including Olivia Munn—who was among six women who spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the producer—and Ellen Page, who alleged in a lengthy Facebook post that he had outed her to her X-Men: The Last Stand co-stars when she was 18 years old. Ratner, through his attorney, has denied these allegations.
Last month, Gadot posted a message to her Instagram in support of all the women coming forward with their stories of sexual harassment and assault.
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Wonder Woman has grossed over $800 million at the box office, and Diana Prince singlehandedly ushered in a more hopeful era for DC and Warner Bros.’ current crop of superheroes. Audiences responded so well to her character that Gadot’s Amazon warrior is now at the forefront of the marketing for Justice League, which purports to ditch the more somber tone of previous movies in the series like Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman. A sequel to Wonder Woman, dated for December 2019, was announced in July.
