Women directors become rising Hollywood stars

For anyone who thought women directors weren't ready for the "Big Chair" on studio blockbusters, think again. They're giving as good as they get.

Patty Jenkins' $570 million global box office success with "Wonder Woman" has set those reservations to rest, surpassing the previous record for a female director, Sam Taylor-Johnson's "Fifty Shades of Grey", reports Efe news.

Jenkins' more personal, relationship-driven take on the superhero ethos is not just a weekend wonder. It is generating the kind of sustained global reaction that has Hollywood sitting up and taking notice.

Once relegated to directing only chick flicks, smart, talented female directors are stepping up to the plate on bigger budget action films, thrillers, war and sports movies, and now superhero pictures - normally reserved for male directors - and hitting them out of the park.

 

This is not a new phenomenon. Jenkins' latest effort may have demolished female stereotypes for superheroes and director genders alike, but she is not alone, says Efe.

Other female directors have been paving the way by challenging the glass ceiling and breaking into the coveted "100 million U.S. dollar Club" for decades.

Jennifer Yuh Nelson ("Kung Fu Panda 2"), Catherine Hardwicke ("Twilight"), Vicky Jensen ("Shrek"), Kathryn Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty"), Amy Heckerling ("Look Who's Talking"), Mimi Leder ("Deep Impact") and Betty Thomas ("Alvin and the Chipmunks") are just a few of the heavy-hitting female directors who have easily topped $100 million in receipts on their big budget releases.

Male directors have no monopoly on the talent and confidence it takes to helm a big budget movie that can enchant the public and fill studio coffers.

IndieWire reported that statistics show female directors who are given big budget films perform as well as their male counterparts.

But women in the film industry still have a long way to go to reach parity.

While male directors like James Cameron can routinely jump from a low budget $6 million movie to a $44 million "Rambo" sequel, or, a young George Lucas can step from a $1 million "American Graffiti" right into his first "Star Wars" movie, equally-talented female directors often wait years for a similar breaks and are forced to do more lower budget movies along the way to earn their stripes, reports Efe.

More women in the top slots leads to a more diverse workforce and more opportunities for women all down the line, reports the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.

The study has been endorsed by Hollywood A-lister, Jessica Chastain, who sent ripples through the Cannes Film Festival by extolling the virtues of more three-dimensional female characters.

"I hope that when we include more female storytellers, we will have more of the women I recognize in my day-to-day life," she said. "Ones that are proactive, who have agency, who don't just react to the men around them. They have their own point of view."

Hollywood is finally beginning to take notice. 20th Century Fox has greenlit Jennifer Yuh Nelson's, "The Darkest Minds," and three other films to be directed by women, plus added 10 other female-helmed movies to their pipeline this year.

Disney Studios is keeping pace with their own female director slate: the Chinese-inspired hit, "Mulan," helmed by Niki Caro, Anna Boden's "Captain Marvel," "Frozen 2" by Jennifer Lee, and Ava DuVernay's family sci-fi classic, "A Wrinkle in Time."

Sony is also moving to diversify its slate with Elizabeth Banks' "Charlie's Angels Reboot," Gina Prince-Bythewood's "Silver Sable and Black Cat," Lucia Aniello's R-rated comedy, "Rough Night," and the remake of crime drama "Miss Bala" with Catherine Hardwicke at the helm.

--IANS

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