Will Warner Brothers Lock Women Out of Leading Roles in Upcoming Movies?
Jeff Robinov Reportedly Blames Women for Bad Box Office Receipts
The statement, which was relayed to Finke by three different producers, comes on the heels of two box office disappointments, "The Brave One" starring Jodie Foster and "Invasion" which featured Nicole Kidman in the lead.
Oddly enough, when some of Warner Brothers' other recent films with men in the leads performed poorly, no mention was made of the gender of the lead star. In fact, I did a little digging through the opening weekend box office receipts of some of Warner Brothers' more recent releases in the last few years.
For instance, the December release of "Blood Diamond" in 2006 showed an opening weekend total of $8,648,324. In case you don't remember, the lead in this film wasn't played by a woman, but by Leonardo Dicaprio. Okay, stick with me.
You then have "The Astronaut Farmer." A February release, this film's opening weekend totaled $4,454,319 across 2,155 screens. Now, before someone starts playing the age card (after all, Billy Bob Thorton is well over 40), take a look at "Zodiac." With Hottie McHottenstein, Jake Gyllenhaal, in the lead, this film's opening weekend receipts totaled $13,395,610.
"The Brave One," one of the films in question with a female lead, took in $13,471,488 during its opening weekend. However, taking a look back at one of Warner Brothers' other releases, "Wicker Man" starring Nicholas Cage, "The Brave One" still out performed this film which only took in $11,740,235 across 2,784 screens which is 29 more screens than "The Brave One." Also of note when comparing these two films is the fact that both opened relatively close to each other within the year they were released. "Wicker Man" was released on September 3, 2006 while "The Brave One" was released on September 16 of this year.
According to Nikki Finke's sources, Jeff Robinov has even stated that he doesn't want to see any scripts that feature a female lead.
Of course, the studio has not confirmed Jeff Robinov's statements and it would do well to not do such. However, in the event that Warner Brothers does pull the ultimate faux pas and admit to this new policy, women's rights attorney, Gloria Allred, has called for a complete boycott of Warner Brothers' films.
In the meantime, Warner Brothers still has the upcoming "P.S. I Love You" opening in December with Hilary Swank taking top billing. While she shares the marquee with "300" star, Gerard Butler, one can't go without noting the fact that her name receives the first bill. Good thing the posters are already printed, I say.
Last year, I wrote a piece entitled, "Why Hollywood Desperately Needs Female Movie Fans." Perhaps it's time for a refresher course on why we women are so vital to Hollywood and film in general.
SOURCE: deadlinehollywooddaily.com
Published by Moi is Moi
Blogger, writer, and professional dreamer, Kel writes for a number of publications, but is most famous within her own brain. View profile
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8 Comments
Post a CommentI take it back (from my earlier comment) more or less most studios have adopted a no woman motto, one every now and then sure, but I sat through a panel discussion on the topic with screenwriters and directors in LA recently and studio reps even admitted to such things stillbeing true.
Hmph! I might be a movie fan if people put the females in lead roles more often. I mean interesting roles, not generic female roles!
Good for you for writing about this! It's not the women, it's the people who don't know how to write and direct women as leads, and it's the studios who don't have the brains to know how to market them. I'm a huge fan of (cuss alert) ass-kicking women. Gina Davis, Anjelina Jolie, Uma Thurman...women do just as great of a job as leads (even in action pics) as men do. But just like movies starring men, some flop and some stink. But because the ratio of women'led movies is lower, they can use stats more to try and prove a point that women don't carry films well. It's bologna.
This doesn't sound like a policy made for 2007. I have no idea why they would do this.
Hope to see more videos and writing soon Kelly. Be well but not good! :-)
No they won't...and apparently the media was lacking stories that day
Hollywood has so many double standards its hard to keep track of them all. The thing is movies like the Brave One bombed because they suck not because the lead is a female.
BooHiss! I think I may boycott all Warner films...