Bridesmaids has passed the $100 million mark, which means you’re about to see more R-rated comedies starring, and to some extent aimed at, women.
Incidentally, Bridesmaids’ audience was 67 percent female, according to numbers compiled by The Wrap; by contrast, The Hangover II‘ audience was 51 percent female. They say there is a “growing belief in Hollywood that Bridesmaids may have perfected an even better way to cater to women than the standard — and now flailing — formula chick flick.”
That sounds great and all, but proof will be in the examples. Will we get the same old crap, this time with more fart jokes? Paul Feig told us recently that while he’d be happy to have more comedies for women, he hoped that they wouldn’t be churned out without regard to quality. Us too.
The Wrap cites as an example Feig and Judd Apatow teaming up with Melissa McCarthy to make a comedy about marriage, which sounds pretty damn great. But also lumped in there are Sarah Jessica Parker’s I Don’t Know How She Does It (we were ambivalent about the trailer) and Cameron Diaz’s What To Expect When You’re Expecting. We hope they’re good, but don’t see much reason to think they’re in any way different from what’s been cycling through the multiplex already.
Another example cited: Who Invited Her, which beats the odds by being written by a woman and has the promising premise of being about a woman tagging along to a bachelor party. It stars and is being produced by Reese Witherspoon which, no offense to Reese, Sarah Jessica, or Cameron, underscores an unspoken issue with these movies that are supposedly Bridesmaids-like.
One of the things that made that movie so funny was that it was the organic effort of comedians — women who could act but, almost to the one, primarily came from the comedy and improv worlds. That aspect was actually considered a liability for Hollywood execs who thought the lack of a recognizable star — like Reese, Cameron, or Sarah Jessica — would hurt the movie, even though plenty of successful “male” comedies like The Hangover and numerous Apatow-produced films starred comedians. Whereas these other, more famous, women are comedic actresses, whose funniness has historically not been allowed to get in the way of their “relatability” or attractiveness.
We’d love to be proven wrong, though.
Bridesmaids Sparks A Genre [The Wrap]
Earlier: Paul Feig Is A Fan Of Vagina Blankets