Max Landis points to gender bias

Double standard · Max Landis is well known for his screenplay for the film Victor Frankenstein. The film was both a critical, financial failure. – Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

If you told me you’d never heard the name Max Landis, I wouldn’t be that surprised. He is the 30-year-old son of John Landis (the prolific 1980s director responsible for movies like Trading Places and The Blues Brothers) and a screenwriter — and screenwriters aren’t generally famous. They’ve long since been relegated to the back of the barrel when it comes to recognition and reverence in Hollywood, despite their relative level of involvement (especially in film). Television is a different story, but movies are often cited as more of a director’s medium, while the screenwriter is just the guy who hides out in a room for a while and puts words on a page. Landis’ fame reveals a case of gender discrimination in Hollywood.

However, despite the politics around the job, it’s safe to say that Landis could be considered both famous and infamous. The A.V. Club has described him as a “brat screenwriter,” and Landis’ online antics are known to exceed what’s expected from writers (he made headlines back in November when he stated thatAlejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant was “the ultimate in cinematic overkill”). His first feature Chronicle was a surprise hit among critics and audiences alike, generating $126 million at the box office — a bonafide success considering its relatively “small” $12 million budget.  In 2015, two more of Landis’ scripts opened in theaters: American Ultra starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart and Victor Frankenstein starring Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy. Both turned out to be absolute flops — not only did they underperform at the box office but they were also panned by critics. Landis took to social media to promote and defend his films. And despite the fact that his Youtube rants and Twitter engagements are often retweeted and reblogged internet-wide, it didn’t do much good for ticket sales. Yet this past month Landis managed to make headlines again. On top of the announcement that Bradley Cooper has just signed on to Landis’ new script Deeper, Landis made waves with the news that Netflix agreed to put $90 million up front for his feature Bright — a sci-fi/fantasy film with David Ayer attached to direct and Will Smith slated to star. The biggest shock of all? Landis was reportedly paid $3 million.

With the state of things in Hollywood today, seven figures for a spec script is unheard of. It just doesn’t happen anymore. But beyond that, as German female director Lexi Alexander proceeded to point out on Twitter following the news, such a deal would never be made for a woman. Alexander argued that “no [person of color] or woman writer would get 3 Million dollars for a script after having 2 major box office flops.” She went on to call Landis a “mediocre screenwriter” and credit the discrepancy of jobs among genders as a product of the privilege afforded to white, male screenwriters. Granted, Alexander might seem a little biased — her big studio feature Punisher: War Zone was a relative flop, and she’s had it slow going career-wise ever since. So yes, she might feel really angry toward the Hollywood system at large. But Landis’ talent and Alexander’s cinematic past aside, it got me thinking: Could a woman ever be given that type of latitude? Even further, would she ever be given quite as large of a second chance?

Late last summer, I ran into Landis at a coffee shop. Upon shaking my hand, he asked if I would like to hear an excerpt from the script he was writing at that moment. I responded evenly, unaware of what I was getting myself into. Who would say no to such a proposition? Throughout the next three minutes, he proceeded to perform, loudly and unabashedly, both characters’ sets of dialogue as I stood there silently wondering how on Earth I had fallen into such a bizarre Hollywood situation. I walked away from that experience with one thing for certain: This guy knows how to command a room. He wasn’t afraid to state his mind in front of a dozen or so people. Suddenly, all his antics online made sense. But the question on my mind still is: Is Landis allowed to act out in this way because he’s confident or because men are given more leeway both personally and professionally? If a woman were to rebel and raise hell, would she ever be invited back into the room?

Landis isn’t at fault for the deals he’s been involved with and the scripts that studios have bought. But what he does do is provide a lens which points to the ongoing systemic issue in Hollywood —  it should be considered mounting evidence for a flaw in an industry that many would like to be a part of but find themselves shut out from. Executives, take note.

Minnie Schedeen is a a junior majoring in cinema and media studies.  Her column, “Film Fatale,” runs on Mondays.