This quote from the screenwriter of what seems to be a perfectly serviceable Black Widow pitch is the clearest demonstration of studios’ attitude that female-led movies should continue to be the exception, and not the rule. The discussion of this project here is held in the same terms as any other ‘gimmick’ movie.
‘We can’t commission another alien invasion flick – audiences are bored with them.’
‘Put all those vampire scripts on hold – returns are diminishing.’
Well, the breaking news in today’s movie market is the shocking revelation that women are not ‘gimmicks’ – they are half the movie-going population, and if Marvel Studios had accepted that back in 2004, it would have had an additional four years of billion-dollar income to enjoy. ‘But it’s about the numbers!’ all the male executives will say. ‘Aeon Flux tanked!’ Yes, Aeon Flux tanked – but you know what Aeon Flux, BloodRayne and Ultraviolet have in common? They are bad movies. They’re not bad movies because they have women in the lead roles – they are bad movies because they were poorly made. David Hayter writes good movies – that’s the difference.
But, ten years on, this is all water under the bridge – as Marvel tells us we only have to wait another four or five years for a Black Widow movie, right? I mean, what are we complaining about – she’s in all these male-led movies, isn’t she? Honestly, there’s just no pleasing some people.
While Marvel continues to wring its hands about taking the wild and scary step of allowing an actual woman to lead her own movie, Luc Besson snuck in and took its ace-in-the-hole from under its nose – delivering the wildly successful Lucy, starring Black Widow herself, Scarlett Johansson. The lesson for Marvel (and all the other studios that still believe we’re living in the 1950s)? You snooze, you lose.
