MERYL STREEP - STREEP MALE MOVIE EXECS DON'T UNDERSTAND FEMALE POWER

STREEP MALE MOVIE EXECS DON'T UNDERSTAND FEMALE POWER

Meryl Streep has accused film executives of overlooking female moviegoers while narrowing their target to young males. In an interview with the website Collider.com, Streep said that Universal Studios executives were surprised by the enormous box-office success of Mamma Mia! in which she stars. "Why were they surprised?" she asked rhetorically. "Because they're all men! Not that there is anything wrong with it. It just puts certain blinders on." The film, which has earned $567 million at the worldwide box office, ranks second only to The Dark Knight ($996 million) among the top-grossing movies of the year. Streep told Collider that the success was "very gratifying" to her "because it's so hard to get enough financing" for films of that sort. "I mean, the budget for that musical would have fit into the props budget for any Matrix film or, you know, Hellboy." Hellboy II. also released by Universal this year, grossed $152 million worldwide. "[ Mamma Mia! so outdid Hellboy at the box office," Streep remarked, "and you just can't get [Universal executives] to understand this. It will pay you back." Asked about a possible sequel to Mamma Mia!, Streep shot back, "Now! Now! Now!" and added that "of course" she would be interested in reprising her role.

22/12/2008