Things are looking up for women in action film, says “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins

Wonder Woman is monumental for a number of reasons, one being that the film marks the title character’s first starring feature film in her 75-year history. But, with so much love for the female superhero, one has to ask: Why did it take so long to get here?

“I think it took so long because people thought it couldn’t make money,” director Patty Jenkins wrote to HelloGiggles in an email. Turns out, they were very wrong because the film made more than 100 million domestically its debut weekend and broke the record for the biggest opening weekend for a female-directed movie, which is just amazing.

Jenkins also addressed how Hollywood can improve upon female involvement and representation.

"I see endless room for improvement in the industry understanding that all kinds of movies could make money in the modern world. And the studio system needs to figure out how to step into that more whole heartedly — for their own survival, as much as anything."

We second that! But, between Wonder Woman and other action films with strong, female characters — like Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron, or The Fate of the Furious with Michelle Rodriguez — women do seem to be better represented.

Jenkins agrees that things are heading in the right direction.

"I think it would be really hard to step back to what it used to be," she continued. "There are too many people watching and holding the world accountable nowadays."

“Change won’t be pretty, but the next generation who this makes perfect sense to is ready to take any of those studio people’s jobs out from under them if they can’t [evolve]. It’s like all revolutions of modernity. If the money is there, anyone who lets bias and old belief systems stand in their way are going to be left behind.”

Hear that, Hollywood? And for our part, we’d like to see more films like Wonder Woman.