June 9, 2008

Sex and the City- Week Two Box Office

Sex and the City dropped a whopping 63% from last weekend and made $21.3 million for a cumulative total domestically of $99.3. The fall was expected but put the damper on the conversation over whether it would have any legs. But on the other side it did make $22 million during the week. Sex was also the overseas box office champ beating Indiana Jones racking up over $91 m in two weeks of international release. So, cumulatively, Sex has made almost $200 million worldwide in two weeks. Wow.

A Variety article last week tried to analyze whether the success of Sex would and could lead to more women's films. We still live in a world where studios have to be and prodded almost kicking and screaming into making films about women. I just don't understand what the problem is. They have potential to be successful if they are good. And we just had the most successful female film ever and the women of Hollywood (even the successful ones) know from their experience that the success of women's films does not breed more women's films.

Wendy Finerman (one of the most successful female producers says):

"When 'X-Men' does well and a studio decides to do 'Iron Man,' that's a reasonable business decision," says Wendy Finerman, who has produced "Prada," "Stepmom" and "P.S. I Love You" and recently set up "I Didn't Fancy Him Anyway" at CBS Films. "It doesn't happen that way with films that serve the female audience."
Diane English the writer and director of The Women (whose film will probably benefit the most from the success of Sex and the City) talks about her experiences:
Writer-director Diane English spent 13 years trying to get her redo of "The Women" into production, getting turned down by one female studio topper after another along the way before Bob Berney at Picturehouse finally said yes.

"I would come in with my list," she says, citing "The Hours" and "Steel Magnolia" as examples of similar fare that worked, only to hear studio execs dismiss each example as a fluke.

"We have to start over every time," English says.

The "Murphy Brown" creator admits she once considered it her mission to break the barrier against femme fare, but Bette Midler, one of stars of "The Women," advised her not to hold her breath, noting "First Wives Club" had no lasting effect. Nonetheless, English has two more femme-centric projects in the works -- an adaptation of Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying" and "The First Man," a romantic comedy about the first man married to a U.S. president.
Come on, this is the woman who made Murphy Brown one of the best sitcoms EVER which ran for a decade and did more to make the Republicans look like assholes than any democratic presidential candidate ever could. She is the top of the line and has spent over a decade literally begging for the measly 16 million to get her movie made. It just disgusts me. I can't wait to see The First Man. Some studio has to think its a good idea epecially now after Hillary Clinton's presidential run. If I had more than 22 cents, I'd be investing in Diane English.

Will Hollywood embrace femme pics? (Variety)