Gina Prince-Bythewood is getting a superhero movie. Variety reports that the “Secret Life of Bees” writer-director has signed to to helm “Silver Sable and Black Cat.” She’ll also rewrite the script of the Marvel project, set to be produced by Amy Pascal (“Ghostbusters”) and Matt Tolmach (“The Amazing Spider-Man”).
“In the comic books, Silver Sable is a mercenary who runs a company that hunts war criminals. Black Cat is burglar named Felicia Hardy, who briefly appeared in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2,’ played by Felicity Jones,” Variety summarizes. “While both characters exist in Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man’ universe, Prince-Bythewood’s film will not be a crossover with the web-slinger.”
While the genre is still overwhelmingly dominated by men, it’s great to hear word of another big-budget female-centric comic book adaptation with a woman behind the camera. Patty Jenkins’ long-awaited “Wonder Woman” opens next week, and “Captain Marvel,” toplined by Brie Larson and co-directed by Anna Boden, is scheduled for release March 8, 2019.
Fortunately we won’t have to wait very long for “Silver Sable and Black Cat.” No word on casting just yet.
Prince-Bythewood co-created the Fox police drama “Shots Fired,” which just aired its final ep yesterday. Her other credits include 2014’s “Beyond the Lights” and 2000’s “Love & Basketball.”
With this project, Prince-Bythewood is likely to become the second woman of color to helm a film with a budget over $100 million. “Selma” director Ava DuVernay made herstory as the first with Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” set to bow March 9, 2018. The only live-action women-directed film that’s been released with a budget in this range — so far — is Kathryn Bigelow’s “K-19: The Widowmaker,” which opened in 2002. Upcoming films helmed by women with budgets in the $100 million-plus range are of course “Wonder Woman” and “Captain Marvel” as well as Niki Caro’s “Mulan.”
We don’t have confirmation that “Silver Sable and Black Cat” will have a budget over $100 million, but given the budgets of past super hero movies, we’d be surprised if it didn’t.
So, chances are, in the near future will see the release of two $100 million-plus studio films helmed by women of color, “A Wrinkle in Time” and “Silver Sable and Black Cat.” This is huge news.
DuVernay has described Hollywood as “a patriarchy, headed by men and built for men. To pretend like Hollywood is anything other than that is disingenuous,” she observed. “#OscarsSoWhite is trendy, but for women filmmakers and filmmakers of color, it’s not a trend. This is our reality, and it’s important that we do something to change it. We have to find new ways to work without permission, new ways to turn corners and go through doors that are closed off to us to create our own audiences and our own material independently.”
Hollywood is in serious need of a makeover, and trailblazers like DuVernay and Prince-Bythewood are paving the way.
