In a huge back pedal move, Warner Brothers President Jeff Robinov now says he loves the idea of female leads in movies and that he's offended people thought otherwise. I guess the reports earlier in the week that said he would never make another movie with a woman lead were just overblown.
This all came about after Warners took huge hits on The Brave One, The Reaping, and The Invasion, starring respectively Jodie Foster, Hilary Swank and Nicole Kidman. After that, Robinov reportedly said no mas and refused to greenlight another film with a woman's name above the title alone, and without the protection of a man.
In his backpedaling, Robinov now cites his impressive track record in working with women and all the films he has lined up starring women. Let's take a look shall we?
From Variety, "Warners is producing an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel Nights in Rodanthe, starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere. (Yes, I agree it is a chick flick, but it is not a woman opening the film on her own which is the case with the three films above.) Also in the pipeline are Spring Breakdown a fish-out-of-water comedy about 20ish women on spring break (which has been delayed a million times because it just isn't going to be that good, and would be true if it were a male or female cast. Also, it is an ensemble cast, not a single female lead opening the film by herself), and the romantic comedy Fool's Gold, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey" (Again, it is a man and a woman that are the leads.)
In my opinion, Robinov hasn't changed his mind at all. Rattling off movies in which there are females playing a role and using that as your bases for showing you are a big believer in women in lead roles is very misleading. Most films have a male and female lead. What he was accused of saying, and what he still hasn't answered is if he will let one woman carry a movie all by herself with only her name above the title. I don't think he will.
Crickets.
ReplyDeleteI think you are correct and it's an interesting post, but it doesn't speak to the average gossip junkie, who wants a quick hit of something salacious to help them (us?) feel better that beautiful and talented celebs (most of them, anyway) have problems and flaws. That's why there's more response to the photos and blind items.
I saw The Brave One, it was not a good movie by Jodie Foster standards. I think the issue is more that the 3 movies mentioned sucked on their own merit, not because they had females leads. Maybe this douche and Warners should consider producing better material for women to star in. Just a thought
ReplyDeleteWell, I had to ask myself, "Who the heck is this a**hole?" Since he has no "Wikipedia", I IMDB'd him. Not much of a bio, but lots of pix. And I hate to lower myself to such an ad hominem impression of this guy, but he is the shortest guy in every photo. I mean, he is TINY. And you know what they say about tiny men...
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