Halle Berry`s role as Catwoman could shape the future of film heroines say industry experts

The Independent have reported that the future of female action heroines may depend on how well Catwoman does:

The planned plethora of new action-heroine movies has come as a surprise to many industry observers, given the less than stellar performance of the most recent entries in the canon. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life entered the American box office chart at a lowly number four last month, while Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle plunged out of the top 10 within a week of opening with a chart-topping weekend turnover of $38m (£24m).

However, Steven Gaydos, the executive editor of Variety magazine, believes that rumours of the premature demise of the action-heroine genre will prove to have been exaggerated.

"Studios are still trying to cash in on the Buffy effect," he said. "Male action heroes will always dominate in this area, and they will continue, like Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator, to be cast in these roles into middle age. This is the one advantage they will always have over women.

"However, I believe we will see more and more female action heroes, and if something like Catwoman is made and it`s a great movie, it will be a colossal hit.

"Halle Berry, for one, could front anything at the moment, she`s so big. It`s not always the idea itself, but what`s in the groove that matters."

The Halle Berry "Jinx" spin-off film is rumoured to start filming in Spring 2004.

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