Warner Bros says "No more female leads"

[Fairweather Pure]

Three different producers have told Deadline Hollywood Daily that Warner Bros. Pictures president prexy Jeff Robinov has declared that the studio is "no longer doing movies with women in the lead".

What's surprising is that the apparent reasoning behind this new edict is the box-office. Warners biggest hits this year have been male-centric ("300," "Harry Potter," "Ocean's 13") whilst chick flicks like "In the Land of Women," "License to Wed," "Lucky You," "Music and Lyrics," "Nancy Drew," and "No Reservations" have all underperformed.

The icing on the cake allegedly is the tanking of the Nicole Kidman-led sci-fi thriller "The Invasion" and the Jodie Foster-led vigilante drama "The Brave One". Noted women's rights attorney Gloria Allred responded with the following very true reasoning: "If that's what he said, when movies with men as the lead fail, no one says we'll stop making movies with men in the lead."

The report has put Robinov in the firing line from sources all over, not just for the blatant sexism, but for the sheer lack of logic in regards to the decision. Others have come up with the more likely sounding argument that the edict is against female-led action films. This despite the success in recent years of such female-led action franchises like "Charlie's Angels," "Underworld," "Tomb Raider," and "Resident Evil" .

What this means for the studio's planned "Wonder Woman" movie is also unsure.

Pretty damn reactionary IMO. Nothing official of course, but it's interesting news none the less.

In other news, Ice Cube should never make another family comedy. That motherfucker is box office poison. There are all sorts of trends out there if you look hard enough.

[Keverian FireCry]

"In the Land of Women," "License to Wed," "Lucky You," "Music and Lyrics," "Nancy Drew," and "No Reservations"

I think it has less to do with the women leads than the fact that all of those movies are uninspired pieces of shit.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

"In the Land of Women," "License to Wed," "Lucky You," "Music and Lyrics," "Nancy Drew," and "No Reservations"

I think it has less to do with the women leads than the fact that all of those movies are uninspired pieces of shit.

Yup. Movies with woman leads can be very good, if written by a white jewish male.

[Sueven]

I've heard this rumor mentioned elsewhere. There's absolutely no corroboration for the story. "Deadline Hollywood Daily" is actually just a person named Nikki Finke, and Nikki has a long-standing beef with Robinov. Nobody other than Nikki is reporting on this story in any way (the article that Fair is quoting from is simply a reference to her assertions). In the original story, Nikki claims that she heard it from three (anonymous) producers, so she "knows it's real."

The story that Fair quotes wonder what this means for WB's upcoming Wonder Woman picture. The answer is: nothing, the planned existence of Wonder Woman proves that this 'policy' is a fraud.

Nikki tries to lend credibility to her accusations by claiming that Gloria Allred (you know, someone with credibility) is calling for a boycott. This isn't quite true. What Gloria actually said was "If that's what he said... If that studio confirms that their policy is to now exclude women as leads... then my policy would be to boycott..." Of course, there's no indication that Robinov ever said anything of the sort, the WB would absolutely not ever implement such a policy, and even if they did so (which they would not), they would certainly never confirm it as policy. So Gloria is simply responding to a hypothetical and is not calling for a boycott.

Basically the story is trash. Here's the link to the original piece:

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/w ... ith-girls/

[Abelard]

Yup. Movies with woman leads can be very good, if written by a white jewish male.

Indeed, Zach Braff for the win.

[Canelek]

Yeah, that is a pretty shitty movie list. Just need some better writing, casting and producers (and studio) and they are all set. Also, do not cast Diane Keaton nor accept any script that is a romantic comedy. This may help millions.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

That Catch and Release movie I mentioned in the romantic comedy thread was written and directed by a woman and it was funny as hell, but it bombed in the box office. It's really all about what movies they want to push and get people interested in seeing.

[Markulas]

"Charlie's Angels," "Underworld," "Tomb Raider," and "Resident Evil" .

Not to be as sexist as the guy from Warner Bros, but I think boobs might have played a role in these becoming popular.

[Fairweather Pure]

"Charlie's Angels," "Underworld," "Tomb Raider," and "Resident Evil" .

Not to be as sexist as the guy from Warner Bros, but I think boobs might have played a role in these becoming popular.

Also, while the originals of each were a "hit", the sequels didn't come close to the original release's success. Tomb Raider and Charlie's Angels were both box office bombs.

[miir]

"Charlie's Angels," "Underworld," "Tomb Raider," and "Resident Evil" .

Not to be as sexist as the guy from Warner Bros, but I think boobs might have played a role in these becoming popular.

Mila has tiny boobs and Kate Beckinsale's are pretty small too.

[Aabidano]

Mila has tiny boobs and Kate Beckinsale's are pretty small too.

And?

[Kaldaur]

I think Underworld's success had something to do with Kate Beckinsale biting people, thus fulfilling the fantasies of 30% of the male population under 89.

[Hesten]

Hmmm, i wonder if they should consider dropping wrestlers as male leads too, im sure that will help on the quality of action movies, so stuff like Doom dont happen....oh wait, that would have been a disaster anyway

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

Underworld was viewable.

[Siji]

Would agree with what was already said.. make a crappy movie and the fact that it's a female lead has nothing to do with it. Also, I thought I heard that Jodie Fosters movie had done really well in the box office?

I can think of a lot of female lead or co-lead movies I've enjoyed over the last 10 years.. I love watching a female actress kick ass on screen. Trinity from Matrix was great (until we all got burned out on her), as was Kate in underworld. 5th Element was pretty good, as were the female action sequences in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers.

Women aren't all weepy emotional wrecks with a painful past, but it seems like too many movies with a female action role has that background. I think that's what I like about Michele Rodriguez in her roles so far, she's just a pissed off latino woman that'll fuck you up if you piss her off. That's teh sexy.

[Funkmasterr]

Would agree with what was already said.. make a crappy movie and the fact that it's a female lead has nothing to do with it. Also, I thought I heard that Jodie Fosters movie had done really well in the box office?

I can think of a lot of female lead or co-lead movies I've enjoyed over the last 10 years.. I love watching a female actress kick ass on screen. Trinity from Matrix was great (until we all got burned out on her), as was Kate in underworld. 5th Element was pretty good, as were the female action sequences in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers.

Women aren't all weepy emotional wrecks with a painful past, but it seems like too many movies with a female action role has that background. I think that's what I like about Michele Rodriguez in her roles so far, she's just a pissed off latino woman that'll fuck you up if you piss her off. That's teh sexy.

Someone should really tell Jodie Foster to get some lessons to fix her speech impediment ( I am almost 200% sure it's not an accent.) Every time she says a word with an S in it I cringe, she sounds like a fucking retard.

I might be able to tolerate her if it wasn't for that.

[Fash]

I jodie foster