A Wonder Woman movie is scheduled for release in 2017, and according to the Hollywood Reporter, DC and Warner Bros. are looking for a female director to helm the project.
Wonder Woman is part of the new Justice League franchise, with Gal Gadot first taking on the role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Her solo movie will be the first female-led superhero adaptation since Elektra in 2005, a movie which achieved a glorious 10 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Comic book fans have long been clamoring for more diversity in the genre, particularly now that Marvel Studios has released ten movies in a row starring white male protagonists. DC’s new Justice League spinoffs are an unequivocal step in the right direction, and a female director for Wonder Woman would make things even better. As well as being hugely male-dominated in terms of fictional characters, the superhero movie genre has seen very few women getting prominent roles behind the camera. The most successful so far was Nicole Perlman, who co-wrote Guardians of the Galaxy but was sidelined by director/co-writer James Gunn.
Forbes is already reporting several directors who are rumored to be on Warner Bros.’ shortlist, including Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight), and several action movie and TV directors who have worked on shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.
A high-status director like Bigelow would be a major coup for Warner Bros., but whether she’d agree to the project is another matter entirely. It’s likely that the main reason her name is being brought up so often is because she is (unfortunately) the only female Hollywood director who can be considered a household name.
With Wonder Woman slated to come out in 2017, DC and Warner Bros. still have a year or so to decide on the right director. After that, the next step is obvious: Hire a woman to write or direct a superhero film starring a dude. It’s time, guys. It’s time.
Photo via DC/Warner Bros.
