when it comes to women heroes being a tough sell: i dont think its so much because they're women, i think audiences are perfectly open to a female centric hero story. but, rather the problem being writers usually dont know how to write good compelling women.
quentin tarantino did a good job of it with Kill Bill.
Im not so sure. I like to think that people are willing to see a female centric action story and that if it's a legit good movie it'll make money. But as you said most of the time the writing is poor and the films aren't good, so they dont make money.
I think the last female centric action movie was Hanna, and that got really good reviews, but it barely made it's budget back (grossed a little over 37 mill on a 30 mill budget), but then again it was released in April and I dont think it was marketed towards everyone. And then Salt got decent reviews, was marketed to everyone, and it doubled it's budget and then some; same with Charlie's Angels
I also think the reluctance might have a bit to do with merchandising. Young boys who buy the toys might not buy a girl action figure.
So Im not really sure. I dont think there has been a really good, accessible female action film so I cant judge if people are willing to see one.
Even though it's not an action film, I really wanna see how Bridesmaids does this weekend. It has all female leads, but from watching the trailer it has diarrea jokes, burping, and alot of what is usually seen as male oriented humor. Bridesmaids has a largely female cast (probably what WW would have) but seems to be marketed more towards guys (like an action film usually is). I'd see it because it looks funny, but I'm saving my money.
What i'm saying is there is just not that much interest in WW anymore. Even from comic fans. Especially from DC themselves, who don't know what to do with the character. DC don't even really give a crap about Superman, of all characters, at the moment. It's all Green Lantern and Flash overload.
She isn't that much of an icon anymore. I wouldn't even say she's part of DCs big 3 anymore. GL has taken her place there.
If they made a great movie about Wonder Woman? Yea it might put bums in seats. What i'm saying though... is there doesn't seem to be any interest at all in putting her onto the big screen. DC/WB don't care about her. The show was basically them throwing the fans a bone and saying "Well we won't make a movie, here's a crappy TV show, now shut up".
Wondy is still an icon. Maybe not in the comic book world (but let's face it comics are all f***ed up now), but if you flash a Wonder WOman picture to anyone they'll know who that is. At Six FLags, I remember seeing girls running around in Wonder Woman costumes more than I saw anyone wearing Flash or GL costumes. Even look how much attention is being drawn to the WW from mainstream, non geek, news outlets. Wondy is still big.
ANd DC/WB doesnt really care about putting her on the big screen? I agree. But that's DC/WB, they're really not the best at putting their heroes on the big screen.
When I heard they were making a Thor movie. I shrugged. I knew I'd see it because a)it's a superhero movie, b) because it tied in the Avengers but other than that I didnt have much interest. I never read a single Thor solo comic. I had no connection to the character. But when I heard an Oscar caliber director was directing, I got interested. But when Hemsworth and Hiddleston were cast, I shrugged. Then I heard Natalie Portman, arguably the best young actress around...maybe even the best actress around period, signed on I was pleasantly surprised. Then when Anthony Hopkins signed on, I knew the movie had to be special to bring in all this talent. Then the trailer came out and I knew I'd see Thor opening day after all that.
The point of my "Thor story" is that it's all about marketing and who you get talent-wise. I was a non fan and just from the talent involved and later a trailer, I was stoked for Thor. True WW might not have the most popular comic stories out there, but she's enough of an icon to put butts in seats.
But then for the people who aren't interested in WW as a character (as with me and Thor). They hear a good director like JJ Abrhams signs on to direct. AFter that a good, popular actor like Jake Gyllenhaal signs on to play the love interest. And then they hear that a great actress like Cate Blanchett or even a popular actress like Angelina Jolie signs on to play Wonder Woman's mother. And then months after that a trailer comes out showing WW fighting Hydras, Steve in a dogfight, and all this modern monuments surrounded by Greek mythology. I think they'll get interested regardless of character. Like me, and many others, with Thor
