Discuss: Clint Eastwood Attracts Biggest Female Audience Yet
Filed under: Action, Drama, New Releases, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Movie Marketing
Clint Eastwood made a career landmark this weekend. Gran Torino was not only his biggest opener as both an actor or a director (unless you factor in the inflation, then Box Office Mojo says its Every Which Way But Loose), but he actually attracted the biggest female audience he's ever had. According to Warner Bros distribution president, Dan Fellman, 52% of the audience was female -- an audience Eastwood has never attracted in great numbers, and something especially surprising in a weekend they had Bride Wars to escape to. (Not that Bride Wars did badly with female audiences, it drew in $21.5 million of the under 25 crowd.)
It's actually something I noticed when I saw the film a few weeks ago. Half the audience was female, and weirdly reflected my group's ratio, which was 3:1. It's an interesting phenomenon, especially considering last week's assertion that women don't fantasize about hunting down bad guys, and aren't supposed to be drawn to the action films and antiheroes Eastwood built his career on. They're supposed to go see Bride Wars , especially when offered a frothy girl comedy over something gritty and gun-heavy (not that Gran Torino is an action flick, but you wouldn't know it from the poster or the trailer), they're supposed to choose the girly, pink colored movie. So, why did they choose Gran Torino? Were they dragged on dates, accompanying husbands and boyfriends? Was it because they all carried a flame for Eastwood, who was ridiculously hot in his youth?
It's actually something I noticed when I saw the film a few weeks ago. Half the audience was female, and weirdly reflected my group's ratio, which was 3:1. It's an interesting phenomenon, especially considering last week's assertion that women don't fantasize about hunting down bad guys, and aren't supposed to be drawn to the action films and antiheroes Eastwood built his career on. They're supposed to go see Bride Wars , especially when offered a frothy girl comedy over something gritty and gun-heavy (not that Gran Torino is an action flick, but you wouldn't know it from the poster or the trailer), they're supposed to choose the girly, pink colored movie. So, why did they choose Gran Torino? Were they dragged on dates, accompanying husbands and boyfriends? Was it because they all carried a flame for Eastwood, who was ridiculously hot in his youth?
Fellman's theory is that Clint and his audience are "getting younger." To be honest, I have noticed a startling rise of Eastwood love among women my age. Maybe aliens simultaneously beamed Coogan's Bluff into our heads, maybe it's his sudden fondness for female heroines (whatever you think of Million Dollar Baby or Changeling, they did feature tough chicks), or maybe we just grew up to appreciate the fact that his films weren't just empty machismo. Any of those factors could account for some of that new percentage -- but 52% of it?
Could it actually be because women, like men, actually favor films of substance, action -- films with the promise of bad guy ass-kicking? Maybe they're becoming more vocal and proactive in their love of such films, more choosy about their ticket-purchasing? Nahhh.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-12-2009 @ 12:42PM
Eric said...
Your forgetting all women love The Bridges of Madison County.
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1-12-2009 @ 12:51PM
Ryan said...
It's it kinda sexist to assume that women want to see crap like Bride Wars. People in general do want to see good/interesting movies. And I think Clint has earned a more well rounded audience lately since he's not filming westerns.
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1-12-2009 @ 1:39PM
Kevin said...
I agree with Ryan. I think that people, regardless of gender, want to see GOOD movies. A good movie will play equally well to both sexes. But crap genre movies will end up being supported more heavily by one demographic. There are definitely "chick flicks" that appeal to guys (Love Actually seems to be a good example) just as there are action movies that girls will like. But crap chick flicks will be seen by a higher percentage of females, whereas crap action movies will be seen more by men. I don't understand why woman will get so offended by such a claim either. Is there something inherently better about action movies vs. romcoms? Because if not (and I don't see any reason there should be) then isn't it just as sexist to say men don't want to be a sensitive guy who wants to be romantic and fall in love?
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1-12-2009 @ 2:19PM
Cat said...
"They're supposed to go see Bride Wars , especially when offered a frothy girl comedy over something gritty and gun-heavy (not that Gran Torino is an action flick, but you wouldn't know it from the poster or the trailer), they're supposed to choose the girly, pink colored movie. "
Oh for the love of... don't offend me. People go see great cinema, regardless of what they hold in their pants.
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1-12-2009 @ 3:18PM
CGJung said...
Clint Eastwood makes grown men pee in their pants and women swoon.
Your sarcasm may have went above a few people's heads in this article, Elisabeth.
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1-12-2009 @ 5:08PM
Moo said...
MS RAPPE HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT WOMEN ONLY LIKE BRIDE WARS YOU SEXIST PIG!
hahaha...folks...you got that she was being sarcastic there, right?
As to the post itself, glad to see this film doing so well, amongst all demographics. I wish it had done slightly less well last weekend in Seattle or I wouldn't have been forced to go see The Unborn (ugh) when Gran Torino was sold out...
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1-12-2009 @ 6:14PM
Clark Parker said...
My gift to the cinematical commentators who didn't quite understand or otherwise took issue with this article.
http://tinyurl.com/7pbwys
Enjoy!
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1-13-2009 @ 1:51AM
V.M.L. said...
I'm female and I love big gun-toting action movies. I also think Clint Eastwood was hot when he was young. :) He's still a badass to this day!
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1-14-2009 @ 9:22PM
TC said...
Well, there is a huge family angle to this movie. And there's lots of character growth. Don't be all freaked out the way you should be if all of a sudden women are flocking to see movies like One Tough Bastard.
Personally, the trailer got me with "Get off my lawn!" and the old lady's chaw spit being 10 times more manly than Clint's. The trailer was humorous. Some of us girls like that.
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1-16-2009 @ 10:03AM
Kevin said...
Who was it that didn't get that she was being sarcastic? The only posts I see are people talking about what she was saying, or people talking about the attitudes expressed by the links presented. I think we all got that she doesn't think girls should only want to see pink, frilly, shopaholic movies.
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