As the US film industry closes a disappointing summer at the box office, Hollywood is turning away from its staple diet of massively marketed blockbusters in a new strategy to fill theater seats.
What is it banking on to outdo the avalanche of thinly plotted, stunt-laden extravaganzas aimed at pimply adolescents? The answer may surprise you: a combination of lavish musicals and sharply drawn dramatic comedies that center on flawed but inspiring female characters.
Both genres aim squarely at a demographic that has never before done much to excite the middle-aged male executives that run the nexus of the world's entertainment industry: modern 20-something women, who enjoy their freedom and have money to spend.
This latest crop of movies almost invariably offers them a role model they can readily identify with: "A plucky heroine who searches for her place in the big city -- usually New York, London or Los Angeles -- while holding down a job in a trendy industry such as advertising, fashion or media and often juggling a bit of romance," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Often the models for such movies are Renee Zellwegger's Bridget Jones Diary, Reese Witherspoon's Legally Blonde or Charlie's Angels which featured the scantily clad trio of Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu kicking guys' butts all over the world and saving the planet at the same time.
Another influential model for the new girl pics are the complex and conflicted heroines of Sex in the City, which has been a huge TV hit in America and round the world.
The race to nab the rights to the next "babebuster" has already sparked feverish bidding wars for the latest round of books featuring these everyday superwomen.
Among the so-called "chick-lit" titles being snapped up are The Bachelorette Party, Family Trust, Man Eater, Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Nanny Diaries, Bergdorf Blondes and the fancifully titled The Devil Wears Prada about life behind the scenes at fashion mag Vogue.
Portraying women as protagonists rather than the mere love interest of leading men is not unheard of, but movies like Sex and the Single Girl and Thelma and Louise were always rare exceptions rather than the leading Hollywood trend.
"Frankly I'm surprised it's taken so long," says Professor Robert Thompson, a noted commentator on popular culture. He attributes the spate of new gal films partly to the failure of movies like The Hulk, Terminator 3 and other comic book movies to ignite the box office.
"There's a lot more that can be done with a well crafted novel than a comic book," Thompson said. "We are bored with all the special effects -- and also a lot of these movies can be made a lot cheaper than the big blockbusters."
Another advantage of the femme films is that, like Charlie's Angels, they can appeal to female audiences with a vision of empowerment and draw the guys in with sexy storylines and scantily-clad stars.
The change in theme also reflects the growing number of women in powerful positions in Hollywood, Thompson says.
Female power at the box office is also reflected in the plethora of new musicals that are set to hit the silver screen. Women are the dominant audience for these movies, and will soon be spoilt for choice.
Following on from the success of films like Moulin Rouge and Chicago viewers will soon be treated to De-lovely, MGM's musical biography of Cole Porter, which stars Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd and features renditions from the likes of Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Natalie Cole and Alanis Morissette.
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