When the rebooted Ghostbusters (2016) was first unveiled, it drew criticism from multiple sources. Many slated Sony for “ruining” a classic, while others felt that the “all-female” casting decision was gimmicky at best.
It also led to many questions about Hollywood’s future. After all, the current film market is heavily driven by nostalgia to a degree – are all-female remakes set to dominate the future of cinema?
For a time, it might have seemed that way. Not long after the Ghostbusters reveal, it was rumoured that a new version of casino favourite, Ocean’s Eleven, was being considered with an all-female cast. This was eventually confirmed and renamed to Ocean’s 8.
Starring high profile stars like Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Rihanna, Ocean’s 8 is sure to appeal to many. However, outside of rumours and gossip, it seems there are no further confirmed “gender-swapped” reboots planned.
There could be a few reasons for this, but the main one is almost certainly the negative outcry that ultimately affected box office performance.
Ghostbusters is the obvious example. Just after release, Rory Bruer (Sony’s president of worldwide distribution) stated there was no doubt in his mind that a sequel would be released. It was also noted that the principal cast had signed on for two sequels.
However, following the poor box-office performance (Ghostbusters took approx $229.1m worldwide on an estimated budget of $144m), plans for any sequel were resting on a successful home release performance. When this was also below expectations, all plans for a sequel were shelved.
Is Ocean’s 8 (and any other potential reboot) doomed to repeat this? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, it’s clear that Hollywood needs to improve the quality of roles available to women, both on and off-screen. Jessica Chastain recently spoke out at the Cannes Film Festival, describing the quality of female characters on show as “disturbing”.
More and more pressure is being put on studio heads to bring female storytellers onto bigger projects too. Director Patty Jenkins has rightfully been praised for her work on box-office hit Wonder Woman ($786m worldwide and rising), and there’s a hope that her success on a summer blockbuster may open doors for others.
Those doors desperately need opening too. Shockingly, despite the eighty-eight year history of the award, only four women have ever been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. And notably, only one woman has ever won – Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker in 2009.
In recent years, the Academy has taken numerous knocks for lacking diversity in its nominations, but their fingers have always been pointed squarely at the industry at large – if Hollywood isn’t providing diversity, how can the Academy nominate diversity?
Ultimately, money is the driving force in the movie industry. Change is happening gradually, but there is still a lot that needs to be done. While it no longer looks like every Hollywood franchise is set to be remade with a female starring cast, we should hope for more diversity within the industry at large.
And if that diversity breeds more diverse, interesting films as it should, everybody is going to be a winner.
