When the sale of the Fox studio to Disney is complete, there will be five big studios left. Paramount has announced release dates for several slated films through 2021 — and none of them have women directors attached. Worse still, none with plot details seem to be women-led. Per The Tracking Board, a third “G.I. Joe” film is at the works at Paramount, as is a Dungeons & Dragons adaptation and a third “SpongeBob” movie. This is very disappointing, but not altogether shocking considering that only three of the top 1,000 films from 2007 to 2016 were women-helmed Paramount movies.
D.J. Caruso (“Disturbia”) is rumored to be taking the lead on the next installment of the testosterone-powered “G.I. Joe” franchise. It’s expected in 2020 and is far from the only toy-inspired film on Paramount’s docket. There will also be a Micronauts movie in 2020, but no director is attached yet. A Dungeons & Dragons film be released in 2021 and, even though Paramount acquired the rights from New Line, Rob Letterman (“Goosebumps”) will still reportedly direct as originally planned. Ansel Elgort is the only actor attached.
“Action Point,” about a man who designs his own theme park, will hit theaters in May and is directed by Tim Kirkby (“Brockmire”). The next “SpongeBob” flick, out in 2020, will be helmed by Paul Tibbitt, who directed the franchise’s 2015 film. “Unset” will hit theaters in 2020 as well, but no plot details are available yet and no director has been announced, so it’s possible that could be female-led and/or directed by a woman.
So far, Paramount is releasing two untitled films, one in 2020 and the other in 2021. Neither their plot descriptions nor directors have been revealed, so in fairness, the directing gigs may go to women and those films are possibly women-centric. However, this current schedule isn’t encouraging. According to research from USC Annenberg’s Media, Diversity, & Social Change (MDSC) Initiative, among studios, Paramount has one of the worst track records of releasing women-directed fare. (And to put it in context, none of the studios have stellar records.) Plus, Paramount Pictures’ former worldwide prez of marketing and distribution Megan Colligan spoke out about the company’s culture of gender bias when she exited her post last month.
Given the sea change that is happening in Hollywood right now, we hope that Paramount gets with the program and puts women onscreen, in the director’s chair, and in the offices.