Warner Bros. announced on Thursday that its much-anticipated sequel, `Wonder Woman 1984` will be released on HBO Max and in U.S. theaters on Dec. 25.

The decision to release the movie in theaters and on a streaming platform is a move to attract viewers as a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, the newspaper reported. Warner Bros. also hopes to attract more subscribers to HBO Max, which launched in May.

Gal Gadot, who stars as DC Comics superhero Wonder Woman, tweeted, `It wasn't an easy decision and we never thought we'd have to hold on to the release for such a long time but COVID rocked all of our worlds.`

Earlier in the pandemic, Warner Bros. decided to send titles like `Scoob` to premium video-on-demand and `The Witches` to HBO Max. The company is hoping that by keeping `Wonder Woman 1984` in theaters, it will give the struggling movie industry a chance to recoup big losses in 2020.

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`We appreciate how patient audiences have been and given the great anticipation around 'Wonder Woman 1984,' we are grateful to be able to make this terrifically entertaining movie widely available in these challenging times,` Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said in a statement.