Chris Pine Says He’s ‘Stunned’ That ‘Wonder Woman 3’ Was Canceled & Recalls How ‘Princess Diaries 2’ Changed His Life
Chris Pine opens up about DC not moving forward with a third installment of Wonder Woman and recalls how Princess Diaries 2 changed his life.
Pine played Wonder Woman’s love interest, Steve Trevor, in the superhero saga opposite Gal Gadot and was “stunned” when the third movie was axed.
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“I’m stunned that they said no to a billion-dollar franchise and decided to pivot elsewhere,” the Poolman director said in an interview with 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 [Jenkins] is such a thoughtful director.”
Pine noted that if a third movie had moved forward, he most likely wouldn’t have starred in it, adding, “Me. No. Homie is dead. Steve is gonzo. It would be ridiculous to try to bring me back.”
The actor also gave insight into booking the role, revealing that he had initially turned down playing the former Air Force officer.
“I had no interest in playing the boyfriend, and it sounded like second fiddle,” Pine said. “Then, in talking to Patty, the way she described it was, ‘Forget the superhero of it all, this is a romance, this is Casablanca, that’s the movie I want to make.’ I was like, oh, now that is very cool because when have you seen a superhero film that was a love story, ultimately? That had nothing to do with blowing shit up.”
Wonder Woman 3 did not move forward as James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios and planned an overhaul of the DCEU.
In a separate interview with Willie Geist on the podcast Sunday Sitdown, Pine talked about how being cast opposite Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries sequel changed his life financially.
“It was the height of summer and I was getting off at Magnolia. I was on my little Verizon tiny little flip phone, my silver one and I got a call from my agents that I booked the job,” Pine said. “I pulled over onto the side of the freeway and they said, ‘You’re getting paid $65,000,’ and it was like they had just told me I’d made $50 million. It was absolutely earth-shattering.”
He continued, “I had an overdraft in my bank account, it was like $400 over. I was gonna have to ask my parents for money, and I got that $65,000 and I just remembered distinctly knowing in that moment that my life had changed somehow. That lasted no time at all, and I owed my parents rent money. But that is a wild feeling. I’ll never forget that.”
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