2015–present: Breakthrough and worldwide fame
In 2015, Jenkins signed on as director for the DC Extended Universe film Wonder Woman, with a screenplay by Allan Heinberg and a story co-written by Heinberg, Zack Snyder and Jason Fuchs, and starring Gal Gadot. Heinberg's script was rewritten and completed by Jenkins and Geoff Johns, who were left out of the official credits by the WGA. With this film, Jenkins also became the first female director of an American studio superhero film, and the third female director to direct a film with a budget over $100 million. The film was acclaimed by both critics and audiences and grossed over $800 million worldwide, exceeding box office original predictions. Wonder Woman eventually became the highest-grossing film directed by a woman, surpassing previous record holder Mamma Mia! by Phyllida Lloyd. However, in 2019, Frozen II directed by Jennifer Lee (with Chris Buck) and Captain Marvel, directed by Anna Boden (with Ryan Fleck) became number one and two respectively, dropping Wonder Woman and Jenkins to number three. Many industry analysts credited Jenkins with reshaping the perception of female-led superhero films, as earlier attempts from other studios had struggled critically or commercially. The film also became a cultural touchstone, particularly for audiences seeking female empowerment narratives within blockbuster cinema.
While promoting Wonder Woman, Jenkins mentioned that her next project would likely be a limited television series developed with her husband. This project was later revealed as a horror series titled Riprore, to premiere on the video-on-demand service Shudder. In July 2017, the cable network TNT announced Jenkins would direct the premiere of a six-episode television drama, I Am the Night, written by her husband Sam Sheridan, and featuring her Wonder Woman star Chris Pine. She additionally served as executive producer. Jenkins's work on I Am the Night allowed her to explore darker visual storytelling again, returning to some of the stylistic approaches she had used in Monster, but within the framework of prestige television.
In September 2017, Variety reported Jenkins would return to direct Wonder Woman 2 (which was later retitled as Wonder Woman 1984). However, on MTV's "Happy, Sad, Confused" podcast, Jenkins revealed that she considered walking away from the sequel due to salary dispute between her and Warner Bros. On December 6, 2017, Jenkins was named by Time as the seventh runner-up for Time Person of the Year.
Wonder Woman 1984 was scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on June 5, 2020, but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release was delayed until December 25, 2020. It had originally been scheduled for November 1, 2019. Unlike the first film, the sequel received a mixed critical reception and was a box office failure. She has been negotiating the terms of her contract with Warner Brothers for an estimated seven to nine million dollars, which would be a record breaking salary for a female filmmaker. She signed on to the first film with no guarantee of directing a second film, but envisioned the second one during the making of Wonder Woman, which turned out to benefit her greatly. When she had signed on to do the second film, she had the ability to get a much higher salary than she would have if she had been signed on to do both films from the beginning. Her goal with her negotiations were to make sure she would get the same salary that her male counterparts would be getting for doing this movie and she seems to have succeeded. Despite the mixed reception, Jenkins continued to defend the film as a stylistic homage to 1980s superhero media, emphasizing that it was intentionally lighter and more idealistic than the first installment.
In October 2020, it was revealed that Gadot and Jenkins will be teaming up again for the film Cleopatra. The film will star Gadot as the titular Cleopatra, the historical pharaoh of ancient Egypt, with Jenkins as the director. In December 2021, Jenkins dropped out of the film, but remained as a producer, to instead focus on a third Wonder Woman film and Rogue Squadron. Industry insiders suggested that scheduling conflicts and creative disagreements also contributed to Jenkins's departure, although all parties maintained a positive public stance.
In November 2020, a spin off film set in the Wonder Woman universe focusing on the Amazons of Themyscira was confirmed to be in early development. Jenkins will not return to direct the film, but cowrote the script with Geoff Johns. In 2021, Warner Bros. announced a third installment of the Wonder Woman franchise with Jenkins attached to write and direct. However, in December 2022, it was reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Jenkins's third film would not be moving forward after all and was considered to be "dead in its current incarnation", as the film did not fit with the newly appointed DC Studios heads' plans for the DC Extended Universe or its upcoming successor, the DC Universe. Jenkins later released a public statement clarifying that she had been willing to revise her treatment for the third film but that the studio ultimately chose a different direction for the franchise.
In December 2020, Disney announced that Jenkins was hired to direct a Star Wars spin-off film titled Rogue Squadron, inspired by the group of starfighter pilots of the same name. The film was originally scheduled to be released on December 22, 2023. Jenkins would be the first female director to helm a Star Wars film, but not the first female director within the overall franchise. In June 2021, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Matthew Robinson had been hired by Lucasfilm to write the script. In November 2021, it was reported that the film's production had been delayed due to scheduling conflicts with other projects Jenkins was developing. In September 2022, Disney removed Rogue Squadron from their release schedule and the film was then shelved in March 2023. In March 2024, Jenkins revealed that following the cancellation of the third Wonder Woman film, she had returned to Rogue Squadron, finalizing a deal with Lucasfilm prior to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, and that she now "owes" a new draft of the script. Jenkins emphasized in later interviews that Rogue Squadron remains one of her passion projects, citing her father’s military aviation background as a major source of inspiration. The film’s development continues to be closely watched as Lucasfilm reassesses its theatrical strategy.
In late 2024, it was announced that Jenkins, Jake Kasdan and Joe Cornish would each direct a live-action film for the Lego Group and Universal Pictures. Jenkins wrote the script for her film script together with Johns and will also produce the film through her company Wicious Pictures.
