For anyone who wanted it straight from the whore's mouth...
It's incredible to think that they are somehow really this dumb.
On an individual level it really is as simple as "make movies that appeal to me or I won't go to watch movies". It doesn't really matter what the reasoning is.
If I am not into movies with female leads then what are they going to do? Force me to go to the cinema?
It's not like they aren't getting feedback either. YouTube is full of nerd and game and movie channels that get millions of subscribers and viewers who all agree that the new stuff is rotten.
If Star Wars and Marvel are your big investments and are expected to be your biggest money makers then refusing to cater to the existing audience is obviously not going to go well.
When I used to go to see Marvel movies my experience was that the cinema was mostly fully of boys and men. On top of that a large percentage of the women there would be accompanying boys or men. Back then for sure my wife would never go to these movies were it not for the fact that I was buying the tickets.
I find this in the gaming industry too, you've got a situation arising where developers, directors, etc have a sense of entitlement that is just so irrational. That they are entitled to an audience.
Sure I could spend 2 hours of my free time watching your woke movie but why bother when I could spend say 20 minutes watching a YouTube dude tear your movie to shreds and get far more entertainment out of that?
Imagine any other business saying to the customer "listen, we honestly don't want to give you a product that you'll enjoy or even want but we just want to remind you that you're a bad person if you won't give us your money."
You want my money then put men front and center in the narrative. Otherwise I am fine spending my time and money elsewhere and best of luck to you in finding a replacement customer.
They are basically banking on enough people just being blind consumers and not realising that "hey I could go to the gym or take up fishing or spend more time with my friends and family instead of obsessing about the next Star Wars."