Women rule. The business power of female-focused films at the box office is a clear theme of Universal’s film schedule.
Universal’s summer line-up includes Girls Trip (releasing in the US on July 21), an ensemble comedy meant to prove that women can do raunchy comedy as well as their male counterparts — and generate ticket sales in the process. The film stars Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish as friends who go on an epic vacation in New Orleans.
In introducing the film, Natalie Morales of the Today show made sure to trash a 2007 article by the late Christopher Hitchens that argued women aren’t as funny as men. “What an [expletive],” she said.
Then came a clip from “Atomic Blonde,” an ultra-violent espionage adventure starring Charlize Theron, who was the highlight of 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. Asked to describe her character, Theron said, “She’s a [expletive].”
