Soapbox: Warner Bros. Exec Needs to Stop Hating on Women

Anyone want to get nice and riled up to start the week? Good. Then check out this alleged statement from a Warner Bros. executive that the studio will no longer do movies with women in the lead. According to LA Weekly reporter Nikki Finke, production president Jeff Robinov made the statement after The Brave One and The Invasion didn't meet expectations at the box office.

So let me get this straight: The reason these movies "failed" at the box office (despite the fact that The Brave One actually won its opening weekend) had nothing to do with their screenplays or premises, the way they were marketed, their supporting players, or any one of the zillions of other decisions that go into creating, producing and releasing a movie. Nope, it was the chicks. I mean, really: What's an Oscar-winning actress like Jodie Foster or Nicole Kidman good for if she can't deliver a box office smash every time?

What really disturbs me about this statement is the notion that actresses are basically expendable — and the related idea that actors are the solution to every problem. Make Daniel Craig's character the lead in The Invasion, and you'd erase all the troubles with the weak, confusing message and not-scary-enough horror elements, right? Except, you know, not.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.