Patty Jenkins is on board to direct 'Wonder Woman' 2019 sequel

Patty Jenkins will return to direct the 2019 sequel to this year's hit superhero movie Wonder Woman, film trade publications said on Monday, after she became the highest-grossing female director in Hollywood history.

Jenkins, 46, will once again direct Israeli actress Gal Gadot as the superhero in Wonder Woman 2, scheduled for release on December 13, 2019, publications including Variety and Hollywood Reporter said.

Both publications, citing unnamed sources, said Jenkins will be paid around $8 million to direct the sequel and would also receive a back end of the film's box office gross, which would make her the highest-paid female director in Hollywood history.

Movie studio Warner Bros did not comment on the news and has not given any further details on the sequel.

Wonder Woman, was the first stand-alone movie to star a female superhero since 2005's box office dud Elektra, and the first to be directed by a woman.

It rode to the top of the box office in June on a wave of good reviews and female empowerment, and with $816.4 million at the worldwide box office, it is now the second-biggest movie of the year after the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.

Jenkins overtook Phyllida Lloyd, who directed 2008's musical Mamma Mia!, for the title of highest-grossing female director.

Gadot's Wonder Woman will next be seen in November's superhero ensemble movie Justice League, alongside Ben Affleck's Batman and Henry Cavill's Superman.

Wonder Woman, the fourth film in Warner Bros' current iteration of DC Comics' cinematic franchise, helped boost profits for Warner Bros' parent company Time Warner Inc.