In Action Flicks, Angelina Shows Up the Boys

With Angelina Jolie's action flick Salt set to open next week, the Hollywood Reporter pays homage to her unprecedented feat in the movie biz: She's the only woman to rule the genre. She's starred in five action movies over the past 10 years that have grossed a total of $1.5 billion worldwide, which helps explains why she commanded a salary of $20 million upfront for Salt, plus a cut of the gross.

But Jolie is "one-of-a-kind" in another way, writes Jay A. Fernandez. "Looking at the character dynamics in her past few films, Jolie consistently was cast in a role reversal in which she is the traditional 'man' in the scenario." In Wanted and Tourist, for example, she's the domineering one in relation to her milquetoast male lead. No wonder the one genre in which she's kind of a dud is the romantic comedy. It's casting against type.
(More Angelina Jolie stories.)