Hollywood has displayed selective amnesia about femme hits in the past, tending to remember that those that don't work better than those that do.
Every time a chick pic has turned into a hit, studios have appeared stunned. There are signs this attitude may be changing -- "Sex and the City" producer-star Sarah Jessica Parker has credited the success of "The Devil Wears Prada" for paving the way for the bigscreen version of the HBO skein after years of struggles -- but filmmakers still avoid the term "chick flick" for fear it will marginalize a project.
It's hard to argue with the numbers for "Sex."
By the time its opening weekend was over, it had raked in $57 million at the domestic B.O., more than double the amount "The Devil Wears Prada" opened at two summers ago. Strong weekday B.O. followed, suggesting "Sex" has legs. New Line is already exploring a sequel.
"Sex and the City" isn't the only femme fare to perform well at the B.O. lately: Last weekend, five of the top 10 films had strong estro-appeal. Besides "Sex and the City," which trumped "Indiana Jones" in its second frame, there was romantic comedy "What Happens in Vegas" in the No. 6 spot, invitro laffer "Baby Mama" at No. 8, followed by two more romantic comedies, "Made of Honor" at No. 9 and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" in the 10th spot.
The knock on chick flicks is that they might not cross over to men, who have been known to avoid female-centered titles. Projects targeting older women (read: above 25) are considered especially problematic; even as anticipation for "Sex and the City" grew, certain analysts downplayed its potential success and dubbed it a one-quadrant movie. But its opening showed that a movie that really speaks strongly to its base will deliver boffo coin.
"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."
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.
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