QuickTidal, on 05 November 2014 - 04:51 PM, said:
How about the FAST & FURIOUS films? They are a great example that grinds against your statement PG. Multi-lead cast, Vin Diesel (he's not aware of his ethnicity specifically, but self-identifies as a POC), Paul Walker (White), Ludacris (Black), Tyrese Gibson (Black), Michelle Rodriguez (Spanish), Jordana Brewster (white), Dwayne Johnson (Black & Samoan), Sung Kang (Asian). That's a pretty amazingly diverse cast and those movies are bonkers successful at the box office. We are literally going into a year where the SEVENTH installment in the franchise is dropping and it's fixing to be the biggest success of them all. They ALL feature on the posters, and they usually ALL feature namewise in both posters and trailers.
I think that shows at LEAST a counterpoint to the idea that studios are afraid of having POC leads in tentpole movies...or that audiences aren't willing to patronize them with cash. For at least the last 3 FAST films (4-6) I've been in theatres that are packed to the gills with people.
The Fast & Furious films are a great thing and hopefully will pave the way for more of their ilk, but they're very much an exception at the moment. And their elevation to mega-budget happened more-or-less by accident and after much perseverance - they've been making well over 100 mil right from the start, but it took the fifth one to elevate the budget to anything like that. Universal kept cranking them out and they kept making money, but it took an awful lot of time for them to really realise what they had on their hands and put budget and marketing behind it.
For the record, I very much tend to the opinion that the situation is the way it is because the majority of studios are run by out-of-touch white men, not because of audience taste - but the studios control what the audience spend money on both by making it in the first place and by the all-important marketing budget allocation.
It is changing, of course it is. But it could change faster.
QuickTidal, on 05 November 2014 - 05:03 PM, said:
Three of those tanked. And they partially tanked because Worthington can't hold the lead. Worhtington was hired off his AVATAR-success for three of the films you cite...end of.
They may have tanked critically, but Terminator Salvation made $300mil at the box office, and Clash of the Titans made nearly $500mil, well over double its budget, while Wrath made $300 as well.
Eta: and he was cast in both Terminator and Titans well before Avatar ever came out. He was just the darling of someone with a lot of power at that time, for some reason.
We're not talking about whether these actors
deserve to be headlining or who's better acclaimed. No-one in their right minds would argue that Sam Worthington is a better actor or more deserving star than Denzel. If anything that's the whole point- one keeps being put into vehicles that cost and earn tons more money than the other, and it has nothing to do with respective talent or reputation.
This post has been edited by polishgenius: 05 November 2014 - 05:25 PM
Help
