Paul Feig was under a lot of pressure before the release of “Bridesmaids” in 2011 — and it was more than just his own career on the line.
Speaking on a panel at SXSW the night after the premiere of his new film “Another Simple Favor,” he shared that in the lead-up to the release of “Bridesmaids,” he was told his success or failure could have a significant impact on how women’s ideas would be treated in the industry moving forward. Though Feig was the director, the film was otherwise led by women: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo wrote the screenplay and appeared in it alongside Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper and Melissa McCarthy.
“So many female writer friends of mine were going out and pitching female-led comedies, and they all heard from the studios: ‘We have to wait and see how ‘Bridesmaids’ does,’” Feig said. “I was like, ‘Fuck! Don’t put that on me. Am I gonna ruin movies for women?’” He also pointed out a double-standard, saying, “I don’t think with ‘The Hangover’ they said, ‘I’m gonna wait to see all these dudes on screen before we do this again.’ But thank god it did well.”
The film ended up grossing more than $300 million worldwide, but things didn’t always look so optimistic.
“Right till the day we came out, we were predicted to not do well,” Feig said. “We were told, ‘You have to make $20 million on opening weekend, or you will be considered a failure.’ And we did a midnight screening the night before that didn’t go well. They were like, ‘It’s gonna be $13 million. Sorry, it’s a bomb.’ All day, I was walking around, like, ‘I guess I destroyed comedy for women.’”
Feig got the good news that they’d defied expectations while spending time with some of his cast.
“Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone were over at our house for dinner, and suddenly, the texts [came in]: ’20 million. 21. 22.’ So we all got in the car. We went down to the Arclight Cinema and it was packed. It was the greatest moment of our lives.”
