AceShowbiz -

It's official! Patty Jenkins is returning to direct "Wonder Woman 2". Variety is the first to report the good news, stating that the female helmer has closed a deal with Warner Bros. to direct the follow-up to this year's box office hit "Wonder Woman".

The news comes after a lengthy and tough negotiation with the studio. The deal is precedent-setting, making Jenkins the highest-paid female filmmaker of all-time, though getting to this point was "challenging," according to a source.

The Hollywood Reporter follows up by corroborating a figure in the nearly $10 million range, as well as the performance bonus. The 46-year-old filmmaker "will receive directing and writing fees in the high seven figures (think somewhere in the $7 to $9 million range) on 'Wonder Woman 2' but, more significantly, will have a considerable backend."

The deal is a "superheroic leap" for Jenkins, who was paid $1 million for directing the initial "Wonder Woman" but was looking to get something more on the level of Zack Snyder's pay after he helmed "Man of Steel", according to sources. Just as "Wonder Woman" broke barriers for superhero movies, Jenkins' deal breaks a glass ceiling for female directors.

"Wonder Woman", made on a $150 million budget, grossed over $402 million domestically and has crossed the $800 million mark worldwide. The Gal Gadot-starring superhero pic is critically acclaimed, with a 92|percent| "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Gadot has already signed on to reprise her role as the titular heroine. Chris Pine has also been set to return to the sequel which Jenkins will direct from a script written by Geoff Johns. The film is set for a December 13, 2019 release in the United States.

Besides the "Wonder Women" sequel, Jenkins is developing a TNT TV series with Pine. Titled "One Day She'll Darken", it is inspired by the autobiography of Fauna Hodel, who was given away by her teenage birth mother to a black restroom attendant in a Nevada casino in 1949.