A little-known fact: some studios recently decided to no longer make female-lead movies.
Lately, I've been in meetings regarding a new script idea I have. A studio executive asked me to change the female lead to a male, because... "women don't go to movies."
Really?
When I pointed out the box office successes of Sex and The City, Mamma Mia, and Obsessed, he called them "flukes." He said "don't quote me on this." So, I'm telling everybody.
I'm in a new movie, My Life In Ruins, out in theaters now. It's a small indie, that was picked up for distribution by a studio (thank you Fox Searchlight.) We're in one-third, maybe less, about one-quarter of the amount of screens of the big movies...yet we made it into the Top Ten.
I'm not too cool to admit this -- on the weekend, I snuck into the back of the theaters to hear people laughing. It's a very good-mood-inspiring sound, better than the sound of potatoes being dipped into a fryer. (Almost.)
The theaters were full of people laughing. Women were there. Sure, men were there, we are a date movie too, but the fact is women were there, some in big girls night groups.
Our movie isn't "playing everywhere," yet these audience members found it. We had an advertising budget of about 6 bucks, Canadian. We don't have billboards, or giant newspaper ads, or skywriting. So I've been Twittering (NiaVardalos), loading homemade videos onto YouTube : "My Life In Ruins, Really!" and blabbing to anyone who makes eye contact with me.
It's called show business for a reason. The theater owners want to make money, and understandably so. My Life In Ruins is the highest testing movie in Fox Searchlight history so we've been given a chance. And, the theater owners said they'll keep the movie in their theaters if people go.
So, women: can we speak up with our wallets?
And even the majority of single, unwed, childless men go... just to see women!
Has anyone told this to Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Charleze Theron, Cameron Diaz, etc., etc., etc...?
No, because neither of them have any opinions that would enlighten the planet.
***Please, Nia is entitled to talk about her experiences trying to get female-driven movies made, and how that experience relates to this release. Lighten up***
Female driven movies are made all the time. Just because she allegedly spoke to a man who thought otherwise doesn't his views are to be taken seriously when the blindingly obvious evidence suggests that "chick flicks" or movies of interest to a female audience are regularly produced.
Peter Loffredo
Agreed.
How many of them have money for a movie ticket? How many go to a movie with their girlfriends because their husbands won't go anywhere?
How many want to watch a Pr*ck Flick?
We like real female characters, not just a pair of t*ts.
We like a good story, not just bang, boom, zoom and cgi
We like realistic relationships. Creepy old men, fat ugly men, dumb men, undesirable men and hot babes just make us sigh. And, other than the Cloris Leachman/Jack Black scene, we don't just want "t*t for tw*t.
It's a shame that so much money and effort is being driven into not only mindless films (which are ok some of the time) but also into remakes of already existing hit films... Recently rumours dropped that the following remakes are in the works: Predator, Short Circuit, The Warriors, Ghostbusters, Total recall, Universal Soldier, Beverly Hills Cop, Conan, The Thing, Escape from New York, Alien, RoboCop, NeverEnding Story, Karate Kid....
No surprise that these are all films aimed at the so call "core market" of adolescent males... and only goes to prove your point even more.
The sale responses to S&TC and Mama Mia... are not flukes... they are a result of a starved audience grasping at the rare film that is NOT aimed at the core audience for a change.