G Force

Gal Gadot proved female-led blockbusters could make money and win hearts with Wonder Woman. Now she's driving a potential new spy franchise with Heart of Stone, which puts kick-ass women and stunts front and centre. Can she repeat the trick?

- By Jane Crowther

If you’ve seen the latest instalments from the DCEU and Fast franchises you’ll have clocked Gal Gadot popping up (in Fast X, quite literally) to cameo. Now, Wonder Woman herself is keen to create an action series with herself front and centre to rival all the big boys and their toys. Give Dom, Bond and Ethan Hunt a high-octane, multi-pic run for their money? Why not?

‘I must say that this whole thing was something that I had in mind for a long time, but I also always felt like, “Who knows if there’s going to be an audience for it? A female-leading-character action movie,”’ Gadot admits when Total Film catches her in late May on an unseasonably grey and cold day in Los Angeles. ‘But then when Wonder Woman came out, it really showed that the audiences – as long as the story works, and as long as it’s believable and good and done well – they’re all for it, you know?’

Ah yes, Patty Jenkins’ 2017 Wonder Woman, an origin story for Diana Prince that relied on the star wattage of a relatively untested Gadot (she’d appeared in three Fast films and a couple of actioners – including Tom Cruise vehicle Knight and Day) to carry the DCEU forward to Justice League. When she launched into the world, Wonder Woman was following in the unremarkable footsteps of Catwoman and Elektra, female-fronted bombs that fed into the pervasive misogynistic view that women could not tempt punters to the box office. As we know, WW smashed its opening weekend with figures that rivalled other hit origin stories (on a par with Iron Man’s BO takings) and ushered in further appearances in a sequel and stablemate outings, most recently in The Flash.