Is Scarlett Johansson The Next Action Superstar?

[Mitch Henessey]

Negations and talks for Margot Robbie (she's eying a role for David Ayer's Suicide Squad) taking the lead role in Ghost In The Shell, an upcoming action/sci-fi film based on the 1995 anime film of the same name and the magna series, fell apart, so DreamWorks offered Scarlett Johansson a reported $10 million to take the lead role instead. I'll admit, I'm not familiar with Ghost In The Shell, but if Johansson accepts the role, and if Ghost In The Shell is a success, we're talking about Johansson's career rising to an elite level.

With the success of The Avengers and other Marvel films, the anticipation for Age Of Ultron, and her role as Black Widow, there's no denying Johansson's star is on the rise, as an action heroine. Personally, I hated Lucy, but the film was a major box office success, with an overall worldwide gross of $415,031,900 off of a reported production budget of $40,000,000, and Lucy received its fair share of positive reviews. On top of that, Johansson was the voice of Samantha in Her, a popular front-runner to win major awards at the Oscars with five nominations.

Johansson has all the tools to be the next major action heroine. Name recognition, sex appeal, she's believable as a lethal threat, and she's a solid actress. And there's a very good chance we'll see Age Of Ultron on top as the #1 moneymaker in 2015. With all that said, if Johansson maintains her momentum, we're looking at the next legit action star, and someone, who's a bonified draw at the box office.

Does Scarlett Johansson have what it takes to be a true action star?

 

[Alex]

I don't want to say females can't be action heroines but history shows that women only seem to have one good action role in them. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, Kate Beckinsale as Selene, Mila Jovovich as Alice etc.

I'm not saying they can't do several action roles (Kate Beckinsale and Mila Jovoich do it quite often) but aside from Jovovich who's known for being in The Fifth Element as well these women as action stars are more or less defined by their one action character.

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying these women aren't good in their roles I love all the stuff I've seen them in but it seems as a society we're not ready for women to be full fledged ass kickers like their male counterparts. That's probably in part why Resident Evil is called a B-Movie franchise.

It seems society will allow an actress to do one action heroine role that will get mainstream exposure and then if they do another action role they get relegated to B-Movie land which is a shame

I'd love for Scarlett Johansson to be the next action heroine kicking ass and taking names with the odd one liner. But it seems society wouldn't give her or any other possible female action star the time of day unless it's based on some real life story. You want proof look at Michelle Rodriguez. The woman has done several action roles and is a decent actress but unless she's in a Fast & Furious movie she doesn't get mainstream exposure.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

She may be considered the next big FEMALE action star. I'm not trying to imply that female action stars are inferior to their male counterparts, it's just that most female action heroines aren't generally looked at with the same degree of greatness as some males.

There've been some quality female action stars, some of which Alex pointed out. However, there are probably very, very few that'd be considered to be on equal or near equal levels to Schwarzenegger as Conan & The Terminator, Stallone as Rocky Balboa & John Rambo, Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones & Han Solo, Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name & Dirty Harry Callahan, etc. The only female action heroine I'd put on an equal or near equal level would be Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley from the Alien movies. Her performance in Aliens, the sequel to Alien, especially as she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The genres of science fiction, horror and fantasy almost never get any recognition from the big major Hollywood awards, so Weaver's performance as Ripley definitely opened a lot of doors not just for women but for those film genres as well.

I think that Scarlett Johansson could be the next big female action star, I dunno if she'd be among the all time greats. Only time can answer something like that. As far as her possibly being in the Ghost in the Shell film, I dunno if that'd put her over the top. When it comes to Anime and Manga, I'm pretty ignorant. I don't know much of anything about Ghost in the Shell, but I do know that a lot of those Manga films are really, really weird. The first Manga film I ever saw was Vampire Hunter D probably around 1995 or so and, at the time, I thought it was pretty wild, but in a good way. A little goofy and off the wall but, again, in a good way. Compared with most others I've seen, it's pretty tame. Anime and Manga are still something of a cult thing here in the United States. I might be wrong, but I don't see this thing being a huge, whopping blockbuster success.

Before too long, I wouldn't be surprised if Marvel started production on a Black Widow film. Aside from being smokin' hot and generally great at kickin' ass, very little's known about Black Widow and she has a long, detailed history that could be a lotta fun to watch on the big screen if they're able to get the right director and writers involved.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I would say Lucy already proved Johansson as a bonafied action heroine & box office draw. The movie had limited appeal IMO, was strongly lacking in story & as far as I know was a completey "original" story, which it not only rare these days but usually makes it harder to sell a movie considering so many films these days are adaptions of material that already has a strong fan base. So while I didn't care for the movie at all, I still went to see it like alot of other people. People went to see it simply for the special effects & for Scarlett Johansson.

So if Johansson is making sub-par films like Lucy into a commerical success, as well as kicking ass in the Marvel Cinematic Universe & getting offered more roles on the side, I would definitely consider her a pretty huge action superstar already.