'The Women': 14 Years in Hollywood's No Man's Land

Image credit: Claudette Barius

The note of caution in Berney's hopefully isn't something you often hear in Hollywood, where the order of the day is spin, spin, spin. But the movie is far from a sure thing. During production in Boston last summer, rumors circulated that Ryan and Bening often had to step in when English's lack of experience behind the camera became an issue. ''Every now and then, both Annette and I would sort of interpret movie jargon for Diane,'' Ryan says diplomatically. (English denies any on-set crises, but admits being grateful for her two leading ladies' ''very strong presences.'') The movie came in on time and on budget, but when executives at Warner Bros. (which had absorbed Picturehouse) saw a cut earlier this year, they were reportedly not impressed. ''I'm not privy to all the conversations that took place,'' says English. ''But I don't think it was their cup of tea.''

That is, until a cosmo-swilling gal named Carrie Bradshaw changed their minds. After Sex and the City opened to a record $57 million in May, Warner Bros. gave Picturehouse an extra $25 million to market The Women to the same crowd. They also bumped up the number of screens it would appear on from 500 to 2,000. All summer long, the Women trailer has been playing with Sex and Mamma Mia! to positive response, which Berney takes as a good sign. ''Obviously ours is an older audience compared to Sex and the City,'' he says. ''But even if The Women does a small percentage of what they did, it's great. I'd love it if we did $9 or $10 million opening weekend.'' That's a long way away from the blockbuster-in-the-making English once had her heart set on. But after dedicating at least some portion of every day of the past 14 years to The Women, the movie's very existence is a triumph for her. ''I don't know what I'm going to do with this big chunk of time now!'' she laughs. Actually, she's already begun developing an adaptation of Erica Jong's 1973 feminist best-seller Fear of Flying. ''It might be as tough to get made as The Women,'' she says. Fortunately, she's one determined director. Mark your calendars for 2022.