Will Hunger Games Inspire More Strong-Female Films?

Now that Katniss is huge and Bridesmaids are hot, here's what to expect at the cineplex!

By Leslie Gornstein Mar 31, 2012 3:00 PMTags
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Will the successes of The Hunger Games and Bridesmaids cause studios to greenlight more movies with strong female leads?
—Stacy J., via Twitter

If you're holding your breath for a big-screen Wonder Woman, you're about to kill a whole lot of brain cells. Those cells are never coming back, and, for the time being, neither is the great comic book amazon. Nonetheless, there is hope; Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Wiig have sparked a small revolution for women in pockets of Hollywood.

If you want to join up, here's your guide:

No doubt, The Hunger Games and Bridesmaids are both successes.  Lawrence's turn as the bow-wielding, dinner-roll-cradling Katniss Everdeen helped rake in a ridiculous $152.5 million in its opening weekend. And Wiig's comedy—tired food-poisoning japes aside—also has been greeted as a success by audiences and critics alike. Wiig has downplayed the possibility of a sequel, but demand for her and her projects is higher than ever.

So does all that equal more and better fare for female moviegoers?

Somewhat.

In the kickass female genre, The Hunger Games has spurred some activity among film development types. Watch out for news of Starters, a Hunger-Games-style book featuring a teenage heroine in a dystopian world. According to reports, it's the next hot book-to-film franchise.

But that said, don't look for an immediate flood of bow-and-arrow-wielding heroines on the big screen, says Sharon Waxman, editor-in-chief of The Wrap.

"Greenlighting a movie requires so many other elements," she points out. "It's not just The Hunger Games doing well that will lead to a change. Movies have to go through budgeting, casting."

And Starters hasn't even been officially auctioned off yet, for chrissakes.

"When Hollywood reacts to a movie, it's not immediate," confirms Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog. "It takes a year or two before you really see anything. Right now, you can't make a blanket statement and say that everything has changed."

What we are seeing is more female-centric projects in general.

"The most immediate impact of Hunger Games was this bidding war, on the same weekend, over 50 Shades of Grey," Waxman notes.

That's the book about the virginal innocent lady who discovers bondage and domination with a mysterious guy.

How...empowering.