Why can’t Hollywood produce successful geek genre films starring an all-female cast?

Well, if you want to be funny about it, the simple reason is that Hollywood is run by men, and American men don’t know how to please a female (audience).

But it goes much deeper than that (no pun intended). Tinseltown has been making movies for over a hundred years, but in the last decade or so, it has hit a dead end when it comes to — and this must be worded very carefully in case it’s misunderstood — genre films obsessed with multiple female characters being led, or starring a majority The cast is all women. By geek, he means movies that are not comedies, dramas, or musicals, but are more action, exciting, or based on comic books.

Now, these films can be directed, produced or written by men or women, or led by a creative team that includes women in positions of creative authority, from director, writer or producer.

Of course, there are exceptions because audiences love films of all kinds, and there have been successful films produced with multiple women as part of the creative process, whether in front of or behind the camera, but they have been few and far between.

Penny Marshall A league of their own (1992), starring Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Rosie O’Donnell, and Anne Ramsay has been a notable success over the past 30 years, grossing US$132.4 million worldwide (unadjusted for inflation) and carrying an approval rating of 81% on aggregator. Review Rotten Tomatoes. 1994 Waiting to exhale, starring Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon, took in US$81.45 million (unadjusted for inflation), and also showed that there was a demand for films led by African-American actors. Meanwhile, 1996 First Wives ClubChampionship Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, and Stockard Channing have earned US$181 million (not adjusted for inflation) worldwide.

After the turn of the century, there is a laureate Help (2011), starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Cicely Tyson, and Sissy Spacek, which grossed US$216 million worldwide, and Bridesmaids (2011), starring Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, and Melissa McCarthy, which grossed US$306 million worldwide. at the same time, pitch perfect The franchise, led by Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, and Brittany Snow, has spawned two series and grossed over US$565 million worldwide. These are fun movies to watch, and if we assume that the audience for these movies skews more towards women, this suggests that Hollywood realizes that it has hit movies for this demographic and can make them.

There are probably several other examples of successful films starring women, but the only thing worth noting is that these examples of success are for films that fall under the comedy, drama or musical categories. When it comes to female-led ensemble films in the action or comic book genre, There are more failures.

The most natural inclusion would be a hit Charlie’s Angels The duo hit theaters in 2000 and 2003, led by Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu. The first part’s US$264.1 million worldwide grosses led to a sequel that grossed US$259.2 million, but the franchise was put on pause and was recently revived in a sequel starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska that brought in just US$73.3 million globally and is considered one of The biggest box office disappointments of 2019.

2018 The eighth ocean (or Ocean 8), starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Helena Bonham Carter, is the closest thing to an action-style heist movie that fits the bill of a hit movie led by a female ensemble. , grossing US$297.7 million worldwide, despite the comedic-leaning film being part of a male-led franchise. But that in itself is not a reason for success, and one only needs to look at female-led film in 2016 and similarly. Replay his name Ghostbusters Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones, it grossed ($229.1 million worldwide) but was criticized for its striking use of an all-female cast, becoming a target of misogynistic hate and an example of how not to do that. To please the masses.

Anyone who advocates for women’s leadership Ghostbusters Reboot also just need to look Ghostbusters: Afterlifethe 2021 sequel to 1989 Ghostbusters IITo understand that audiences are still keen on the ghost hunting comedy franchise. It made less money than the reboot, grossing US$204 million worldwide but has a sequel, and Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire, starring Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and McKenna Grace, will be released in March of this year. So is the casting of women to blame, or are audiences more willing to invest the time and effort to watch a revival of a beloved series, rather than a reboot?

But are actresses really to blame if an ensemble film fails to take off? Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020), led by Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Rosie Perez, underperformed with a global box office of US$205.3 million. But compare that to last year Barbie, which fits the category of being a female-led geek-style film, this time with Margot Robbie herself and joined by America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Ariana Greenblatt. Unlike Birds of Prey, Barbie“, directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie He has won numerous awards and has earned more than $1.446 billion USD. Perhaps it is not the actors that are important, but rather the gender itself that audiences care about, and the clear indicators of women’s success in this field. Barbie Is it just a byproduct of it being a great movie to begin with?

But there’s no denying that Barbie‘s success is anomalous, as In recent years, it seems like Hollywood hasn’t been able to crack the code of producing female ensemble films that cater to the mainstream or geeky crowd. Last few years WondersThe 33rd film in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise has become the lowest-grossing film in the MCU, taking in just $206 million worldwide. The film stars Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Phelan, and is directed by Nia DaCosta, and is a sequel to the 2019 film. Captain Marvelwhich generated more than 1.1 billion US dollars.

What’s interesting is that last year Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom It shares many similarities with Wonders, but he performed better. The 2018 comic book sequel Aquaman, which has grossed US$1.152 billion worldwide, is also the final film in the DC Extended Universe film franchise, but has earned over $433 million worldwide. The sequel also saw the main character of the original film, played by Jason Mamoa, teaming up with the characters played by Patrick Wilson and Randall Park. One could easily boil it down to two comic book movies that serve as sequels to individual films that had previously grossed over $1 billion, and are now driven by an ensemble cast. But the male-focused film outperformed the female-led film, even though the male-led film is the last film in a dead series, while the female-focused film is the next chapter in a series that seems to have no end in sight.

Earlier this year, Sony Madame Web (2024), a spin-off of Sony’s Spider-Man universe starring Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, and Isabella Merced, became the next critical and commercial failure.

Some might easily dismiss superhero fatigue as a reason Wonders And Madame WebFailure And while it cannot be denied that the comic book movies released in the past two years have not been as successful as those released previously, the point is that there have been other successful comic book movies in the past couple of years – but not ones led by Majority of women.

When it comes to action movies, the same problem arises. The success of the Mission Impossible, Fast and the Furious and John Wick series, which see groups of men taking on bad guys, is never in doubt, but does anyone remember 2021? Gunpowder milkshakeAction thriller, about a group of assassins, starring Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, and Angela Bassett? It had a limited theatrical release, so the film’s box office means little but few audiences know about it, or care that a sequel has been in development since 2021.

Oh, so you want to point that out Gunpowder milkshake Is it an epidemic film and is it not included in this comparison? Well, what about 355? The 2022 action spy thriller, starring leading women Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong’o as a group of international spies, flopped at the box office, grossing just $27.8 million worldwide against its expectations. The budget ranges from 40 to 75 million US dollars. Whichever way you look at it, this is another female ensemble film that fails to take off.

Which calls for repeating the question – why can’t Hollywood crack the code in producing successful geek-type films starring women? Or do they not want to, since films in that specific genre haven’t had a successful track record? But why does this happen, when female-led films in other genres can find success?

Couldn’t it be that men who love action movies and comic books hate seeing such films led and starred by women? Is it enough?