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Friday, October 12, 2018
Scarlett Johansson Gets $15 Million for 'Black Widow' Film
The Mary Sue: That Black Widow movie in the works is making moves towards its existence, and the biggest news is that actress Scarlett Johansson, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is getting a $15 million payday for this upcoming stand-alone film.
5 comments:
Sarah Battaglia
said...
I struggle with ScarJo because I think that she's an okay actress and she has spoken out about women's rights a lot which I appreciate but she keeps taking these roles that are meant for women of color and I just don't know how to defend her anymore. I think people get one pass they get one mistake to learn from and then moving forward they have to be held accountable for their choices. I am glad that she made or is making 15 million dollars on Black Widow cause I think the character is bad ass and I think people will want to see it but I just can't keep excusing white women for their feminism only when it applies to them rules. I know there was nothing about this in the article but I feel like I've done enough ignoring of racism or racist behavior of white women for a long time and we have to bring it up. I still like ScarJo and I think she will do good things for women in movies but she's got a lot of years of making no mistakes ahead of her before I stop bringing them up in green page comments.
The fact that the Black Widow movie is happening at this point in the MCU timeline (and world timeline) is super interesting. If this movie had been announced and slated for 4 years ago, I may have been very excited. At the height of the MCU, when Scar-Jo was a feminist icon, that would have been great. But at this point, the odds are against this movie. The MCU is getting tired and overdone (there should be a five year length limit on this stuff). Scar-Jo has made so many errors in her choice of roles. The character of the Black Widow has been revamped beyond recognition. This movie is going to tank. And that would be fine, if it weren’t for the fact that the producers are immediately going to blame the failure on having a female lead. But now I’m going to have to go sit in an empty movie theatre and see this terrible movie all for feminism.
So I too am of two minds about this movie. The fact that "Johansson has been Black Widow longer than Evans or Hemsworth have played their heroic counterparts, it is disappointing that they have waited this long to give her the same amount of money compared to her male co-stars," and feel that it is about time Marvel allowed a feature film to be led by a woman. On the other hand, Scarlett needs to very much evaluate what other projects she is taking. The article states this effectively, saying "she needs to start being more responsible with the roles she goes out for, because the excuse she made in Ghost in the Shell about wanting to be apart of a female-led series now holds zero weight. She is the major female character in what is now Hollywood’s biggest moneymaker, and that means she shouldn’t be trying out for roles that are meant for marginalized people." She must use her rather large position of power with-in the industry wisely. I enjoy that the article is able to verbalize both side of this narrative--we are excited that this happening in the MCU, but Johansson needs to realize and understand the privilege she has. "It is great that Scarlett Johansson is finally getting paid what she is owed for her work, but I also hope she realizes how that means that she has privileges leaps and bounds over other actresses and uses her power to help, not harm."
If the Black Widow movie had come out back in 2012 or so, we as an audience would have been thrilled. I remember the many many discussions on the internet, angry about the team having only one woman and how she was sidelined in favor of the male characters in The Avengers merchandise, and there was a rallying cry of “Give Black Widow Her Own Movie!”. But by now our expectations as an audience have evolved, as have our perceptions of Scarlett Johansson. Making a Black Widow movie has come several years too late- the recent scandals of Johansson repeatedly being given parts meant for actors of different races meant that she has fallen out of favor with much of the audience. More female characters have been introduced to the franchise- still not an equal number, but now our representation is more than literally just one. And new movies have premiered recently raising our expectations, such as Wonder Woman and Black Panther. I think it’s great that Marvel is finally creating a woman-led solo film, but I can guess that it’s not going to do well- Black Widow is no longer the face of feminism in superhero movies. My worry is that if or when it does tank, Marvel will interpret that as “female-led movies don’t do well” and use it as an excuse to never make any more, despite evidence to the contrary such as the success of Wonder Woman. So I’m going to go see this movie, and hope it does well, even though it’s not really the feminist piece of media it hopes it’s going to be.
Does anyone else feel like Marvel is making a blockbuster movie every week? Ever since the franchise began, they have made smashing hits that are almost guaranteed to top the charts. I can honestly say that I am not shocked in the least to hear that lead actors are cashing in well into the millions. In fact, I am surprised it isn’t more especially when you have an actor like Robert Downy Jr. pulling in upwards of 50 million for his appearance in the Avengers' movies. The article does mention that actor payout has significantly increased over that past few years but I think it is also important to look at the bigger picture and how much the franchise has also grown. I know that I, along with other Marvel fans look forward to these movie releases and don’t see a time where these movies fade from the public eye. I genuinely believe that the more money they throw at a production, the higher the return will be. People pay more for the flash than they do for the story and if Marvel has mastered one thing, it is just that.
5 comments:
I struggle with ScarJo because I think that she's an okay actress and she has spoken out about women's rights a lot which I appreciate but she keeps taking these roles that are meant for women of color and I just don't know how to defend her anymore. I think people get one pass they get one mistake to learn from and then moving forward they have to be held accountable for their choices. I am glad that she made or is making 15 million dollars on Black Widow cause I think the character is bad ass and I think people will want to see it but I just can't keep excusing white women for their feminism only when it applies to them rules. I know there was nothing about this in the article but I feel like I've done enough ignoring of racism or racist behavior of white women for a long time and we have to bring it up. I still like ScarJo and I think she will do good things for women in movies but she's got a lot of years of making no mistakes ahead of her before I stop bringing them up in green page comments.
The fact that the Black Widow movie is happening at this point in the MCU timeline (and world timeline) is super interesting. If this movie had been announced and slated for 4 years ago, I may have been very excited. At the height of the MCU, when Scar-Jo was a feminist icon, that would have been great. But at this point, the odds are against this movie. The MCU is getting tired and overdone (there should be a five year length limit on this stuff). Scar-Jo has made so many errors in her choice of roles. The character of the Black Widow has been revamped beyond recognition. This movie is going to tank. And that would be fine, if it weren’t for the fact that the producers are immediately going to blame the failure on having a female lead. But now I’m going to have to go sit in an empty movie theatre and see this terrible movie all for feminism.
So I too am of two minds about this movie. The fact that "Johansson has been Black Widow longer than Evans or Hemsworth have played their heroic counterparts, it is disappointing that they have waited this long to give her the same amount of money compared to her male co-stars," and feel that it is about time Marvel allowed a feature film to be led by a woman. On the other hand, Scarlett needs to very much evaluate what other projects she is taking. The article states this effectively, saying "she needs to start being more responsible with the roles she goes out for, because the excuse she made in Ghost in the Shell about wanting to be apart of a female-led series now holds zero weight. She is the major female character in what is now Hollywood’s biggest moneymaker, and that means she shouldn’t be trying out for roles that are meant for marginalized people." She must use her rather large position of power with-in the industry wisely. I enjoy that the article is able to verbalize both side of this narrative--we are excited that this happening in the MCU, but Johansson needs to realize and understand the privilege she has. "It is great that Scarlett Johansson is finally getting paid what she is owed for her work, but I also hope she realizes how that means that she has privileges leaps and bounds over other actresses and uses her power to help, not harm."
If the Black Widow movie had come out back in 2012 or so, we as an audience would have been thrilled. I remember the many many discussions on the internet, angry about the team having only one woman and how she was sidelined in favor of the male characters in The Avengers merchandise, and there was a rallying cry of “Give Black Widow Her Own Movie!”. But by now our expectations as an audience have evolved, as have our perceptions of Scarlett Johansson. Making a Black Widow movie has come several years too late- the recent scandals of Johansson repeatedly being given parts meant for actors of different races meant that she has fallen out of favor with much of the audience. More female characters have been introduced to the franchise- still not an equal number, but now our representation is more than literally just one. And new movies have premiered recently raising our expectations, such as Wonder Woman and Black Panther. I think it’s great that Marvel is finally creating a woman-led solo film, but I can guess that it’s not going to do well- Black Widow is no longer the face of feminism in superhero movies. My worry is that if or when it does tank, Marvel will interpret that as “female-led movies don’t do well” and use it as an excuse to never make any more, despite evidence to the contrary such as the success of Wonder Woman. So I’m going to go see this movie, and hope it does well, even though it’s not really the feminist piece of media it hopes it’s going to be.
Does anyone else feel like Marvel is making a blockbuster movie every week? Ever since the franchise began, they have made smashing hits that are almost guaranteed to top the charts. I can honestly say that I am not shocked in the least to hear that lead actors are cashing in well into the millions. In fact, I am surprised it isn’t more especially when you have an actor like Robert Downy Jr. pulling in upwards of 50 million for his appearance in the Avengers' movies. The article does mention that actor payout has significantly increased over that past few years but I think it is also important to look at the bigger picture and how much the franchise has also grown. I know that I, along with other Marvel fans look forward to these movie releases and don’t see a time where these movies fade from the public eye. I genuinely believe that the more money they throw at a production, the higher the return will be. People pay more for the flash than they do for the story and if Marvel has mastered one thing, it is just that.
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