After being tagged as the female lead in the upcoming Ben-Hur remake from director Timur Bekmambetov, actress Gal Gadot has reportedly backed out of the project due to her commitment to play Wonder Woman for Warner Bros.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gadot was expected to co-star in Bekmambetov’s 2016 film opposite Jack Huston, but with WB planning an ambitious lineup of films based on its DC Comics properties — with at least one solo film for Gadot as Wonder Woman — the scheduling conflicts couldn’t be resolved. Gadot is expected to make her debut as Wonder Woman in Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice, which hits theaters March 25, 2016. She’ll then reprise the role in a Wonder Woman solo film scheduled to premiere June 23, 2017.
As for the studio’s future plans for the character, Bleeding Cool reports that WB is planning a full trilogy of Wonder Woman solo movies. According to the outlet’s anonymous source, the first Wonder Woman film will take place in the 1920s and chronicle the first encounter between Wonder Woman and the outside world. A sequel unfolding during World War II is then planned, with the third film bringing Wonder Woman into the modern-era Justice League adventures.
Of course, all of this speculation remains unconfirmed, unofficial, and firmly entrenched in rumor status at this point — so take it with the necessary grain of salt.