Warner Brothers says no more women in lead roles

I'll keep my money in my wallet then.  That's right, it was the actresses fault that the movies didn't make the big bucks.  When we all know that MEN are generally behind the camera, producing and they are generally the financial backers of most Hollywood films.  I'm not going on a men hating campaign, but lets face it, WB hasn't made decent decisions in years so the idiot decides it was the fault of Nicole Kidman and Jodie Foster.  They rely every year on that 100 million dollar gold mine such as a comic book movie or a shoot-em-up and blow-em-up style film.   I know that critics were mixed on The Brave One but almost all of the critics agreed that Jodie was excellent in the film and had an Oscar worthy performance.  Hear it now folks, it's Jodies fault the film failed!  Well their opinion of failure.  What a bunch of crap. 

As for Nicole Kidman, I'll be very honest, I haven't seen anything decent from her in quite some time.  Since she's been making bank for doing a movie, she hasn't chosen the best of films.  Lets face it, there's a shortage of good scripts out there and most actors choose films that will possibly break the 100 mil mark.  Nonetheless, it should not discredit her talent as an actress, just a poor choice in movie roles..of which WB funded.  Double-edged sword buddy. 

I am prone to see a movie with a great female cast or lead but it doesn't mean that I won't go see a movie if Tom Hanks is the lead (one of my favorite actors).  Generally speaking, I am a huge fan of Kate Winslet.  I've seen all of her movies.  Not only because she's an excellent actress but she chooses excellent roles and movies to be in.  Hell, what do I know, I don't make the big bucks like those running the major studios. 

"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."

Well, I still intend to see The Brave One, but have decided not to see Michael Clayton, which I was planning to.

Warner Bro. can go to hell as far as I'm concerned, and if enough women boycott their films, they might get the message that telling 50% of your potential viewers that they're of no value DOES make a dent on your bottom line, if that's your all you care about.

"Warner Bro. can go to hell as far as I'm concerned, and if enough women boycott their films, they might get the message that telling 50% of your potential viewers that they're of no value DOES make a dent on your bottom line, if that's your all you care about."

my thoughts exactly, notshane. and thanks for voicing them. i'll keep my hard-earned money in my pocket, thank you very much, warner bros. and i hope my sisters, who are 50% of the audience, do the same as well if this stupid statement/decision is true.

apparently, warner brothers is denying the whole thing:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/10/09/warner-brothers-denies-comments-a...

Right, its the fault of the lead actresses that the movies were flops. It has nothing to do with the fact that Jodie's movie opened a few weeks after Kevin Bacon's similarly themed Death Sentance was released. Nor was it the fact that Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been remade so many times that nobody cares anymore. No, it was Nicole's fault that her film didn't open big either. Jeez, how about taking some responsibility and admiting that you are just churning out old ideas over and over again and commit to spending some money to try and get new or at least original takes put up on screen. We consumers aren't idiots; if you produce something fun and entertaining we will come and see it. You don't have to keep remaking the same things over and over again.

if this report is true, then Jeff Robinov is a complete and utter arse.  if he looked at the two so-called 'flops' mentioned (i.e. 'The Brave One' and 'Invasion') he'd see that they were both produced by the same guy, Joel Silver; if you follow Robinov's twisted business 'sense' then he should fire Silver instead of announcing that all Warner Bros female-led productions are to be shelved.  twat.

it reminds me of a really funny story i heard about John Cleese - in the early 90s, Granada TV here in the UK was going through a major shake-up; they appointed a new Chief Exec who had previously run their motorway service stations to run their broadcasting arm instead.  apparently Cleese just faxed the guy a very simple message:  "oh, fuck off".  hear, hear!

that's all I have to say...

"i don't suffer from insanity...i enjoy every minute of it"

Goldie Hawn said something about starting a revolution of sorts for older women in an interview she did with AARP magazine..I say we take it a step further and make an all woman production company. Not saying they can't use men in their movies..that'd be unrealistic and just as lame as WB are apparently being. But imagine the wonderful movies that would be made if Goldie Hawn, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench and the likes of them all got together and pooled their money and oh my. My girlhood trembles at the thought.

And an open letter to Goldie:

I was 11 when The First Wives Club came out back in '96 and I absolutely loved it at the time..so..you don't need just the older people to stand up and shout for you. I'm here too :)

The interview for those interested: http://www.aarpmagazine.org/entertainment/goldie_luxe.html

ps..that was one of my favorite Berenstein Bears books haha Sister Bear totally showed them. Take that, Brother Bear!

Even if this isn't true, which I doubt it is, what I always found fascinating was that so many male studio executives are always so shocked that an estrogen-fueled movie like The Devil Wears Prada could do so insanely well, as if they didn't realize that women actually DO leave the kitchen and go to the movies, but have no qualms about playing to that half of the population by, say, putting someone like Jodie Foster in a role that had originally been written for a man in an attempt to get even more money.

Oh, so you mean I should see a film just because it has a woman in it? Just like I should vote for the only female candidate for president, and take everything any woman says at face value, right? It's insulting to our collective female intelligence, demeaning, and disgusting.

"Out of the box is where I live." -Starbuck

If this is true (and I'm sure the ever-efficient ladies of AE will be able to update us), then I think it's a no-brainer that some of us (and when I say us, I'm only really speaking for myself) will simply boycott Warner Bros in every way, shape and form we can.

Would it be possible for AE to post the movies, TV shows, magazines etc that are produced by the Warner Bros franchise?

Life is too short to waste time on people like this - if he did say it, I really don't care how much spin-doctoring and back-tracking he does - I'm doing the one thing I can, which is not giving another dime to Warner Bros.

And I LOVED The Brave One, Jeff!!

The problem is that as it is an old boys club, they haven't got a clue what to do with women. Not story-wise, not marketing wise, so they usually end up as the main guy's g-f, wife, mother or sister. Ladies that manage to "make it" to movie star status, like Jodie and Nicole, well they are held to higher standards (box-office wise), and feel the repercussions more harshly than a Brad Pitt or George Clooney. Since there are so few bonafide female moviestars, when one of them fails, these studios pounce at the chance to blame the women. I don't know about Nic but I do know that Jodie and Halle, and Sandra have had to overcome a lot to reach such heights in their career. A lot that we never hear of. These women are pioneers in their own right (they're all 40+ so it won't get easier). That's why I try not to judge Jodie (or Latifah/closeted actresses), they've got enough to deal with for now.

(BTW, except for the Ocean's flix, Clooney's career is nothing but box office flops, and Brad's latest Jesse James movie will be lucky if it sees $10m total - but of course, no one would dare fault them for their movies flopping).

Haha, sorry.

I don't think a boycott would do much. As it is, Hollywood doesn't think that women go to the movies anyway, that's why most of their movies are aimed at young guys. The reason to cater to young guys? They actually show up, all the time, without fail. What we should do is actually go to movies that are about women/featuring high profile actresses in leading roles and go on OPENING WEEKEND when it counts.

has been spending too much time in the little boys' room.  Wanna wager what he's been doing in there?  I hope Finke's infor. is incorrect.  Warner Bros. can not be that foolish and narrow-minded to judge a gender by 2 films.  Neither of which failed, they just didn't beome the biggest weekend draws that they had hoped.  The pressure today on any film, regardless who the lead is, has increased even in the last 10 yrs alone.

Most films today are being rushed in and out theatres, then on to cable/DVD distributions at record speeds.  They're not given the chance to attract a larger audience as they use to be...when some films had a very slow start, but then turned things around with great profits because they were allowed more time to attract their audiences.  The movie shell-game has become ridiculous.  Regardless of a male or female lead, any movie today is being judged almost entirely on it's opening weekend sales.  That's absurd. And if Warmer Bros. is going to judge those few opening days by gender roles, they've lost touch with reality and their business skills.