Revenge of the Twilight Moms: How women made the movie a blockbuster

November 28, 2:27 PMSeattle Eastside Family ExaminersMichele & Lexie

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Director Catherine Hardwicke arrives at the premiere of
"Twilight" in Los Angeles on Monday, Nov. 17, 2008.
(AP Photo/Matt Sayles)  

People have all sorts of feelings about Twilight, both the movie and the books.  But one story that has gotten lost in mix is one I think is very important- the power of women to make a movie successful.  Here are a few facts:

Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, had an opening weekend box office of over $70 million.  The movie was the largest opening ever for a film directed by a woman- the last record was held by director Mimi Leder who directed 1998's Deep Impact, which brought in $41.1 million.  This is certainly exciting that a female director is so successful, but in a world where $100 million blockbusters seem routine, it shows that something is wrong.  What is wrong is only 7% of working directors are women, and those women have to fight to get the reins of movies that might make big money.  Studios just don't think women make successful movies, which of course, is hard to disprove when women aren't allowed to make movies.

Getting the movie made was hard enough as it was.  The movie was rejected by at least three movie studios before being produced by Summit Entertainment.  Paramount Studios and MTV Studios (which are to blame for movies like Jackass Number Two, which made $29 million), along with Fox (which made the stinker Dude, Where's My Car) all turned it down. An executive at Paramount said it had no commercial value, despite being based on bestselling books. 

So why would so many studios pass on such an overwhelmingly popular book?  The theory in Hollywood is that women moviegoers don't make movies successful.  Teen boys are supposed to be the ones that make huge blockbusters.  Twilight proved them wrong.   75% of the audience was female, with 55% of that being teen girls and women over 25 made up the other 45%, according to Variety.  Guys didn't make this movie a blockbuster. "If you look back at the 'Hannah Montana' movie, how well that did," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers, in an interview with the AP, "and now this movie, the teen girl audience will never be ignored again or underestimated. It was always teen boys who were the coveted ones, but someone finally caught on to the idea that girls love movies, too, and if you create something that they're into, that they're passionate about, they will come out in big numbers and drive the box office."

On top of the director and the audience, of course, the books, which have sold 17 million copies worldwide, were written by Stephenie Meyer, a woman, and the screenplay was written by another woman, Melissa Rosenberg.  So the moral of this story, beyond just the vampire love story, is that girls (and their Twilight Moms!) matter to the marketplace.  How about Hollywood remember that next time?