Hollywood Movies

Hollywood boosts female leads in movies, but lags in people of colour: Report

February 13, 20253 Mins Read


LOS ANGELES – Out of the top 100 movies of 2024, more than half featured a story centred on an actress as a lead or co-lead, the first time representation has been above the United States census, where girls and women comprise 50.5 per cent of the population, a 2025 report from the University of Southern California (USC) found.

However, representation fell for people of colour in film, the report said.

The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative examined 1,800 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2024 and assessed the gender, race, ethnicity and age of the leading and co-leading actors for each movie.

“This is the first time we can say that gender equality has been reached in top-grossing films,” said associate professor of communication Stacy L. Smith, founder of the initiative.

“This is not the result of an economic awakening, but is due to a number of different constituencies and efforts – at advocacy groups, at studios, through DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives – to assert the need for equality on screen,” she added.

Films in 2024 such as Wicked, with lead Cynthia Erivo; Anora, with lead Mikey Madison; and Anya Taylor-Joy, in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, set the stage for these gains in Hollywood gender equality.

Of the 100 top-grossing films of 2024, 54 featured a girl or woman in a lead or co-lead role, the USC report said. This reflects an increase from 2023, when only 30 movies featured a female-identified protagonist.

Over half of the films distributed by Universal Pictures (66.7 per cent), Warner Bros Pictures (55.6 per cent) and Lionsgate (54.5 per cent) featured an actress as the lead or co-lead of the story, the report found.

About 40 per cent of films were centred on a female lead or co-lead at Paramount Pictures (44.4 per cent), Walt Disney Studios (40 per cent) and Sony Pictures Entertainment (38.5 per cent).

However, leads and co-leads from under-represented racial and ethnic groups have declined significantly, as only 25 of the top 100 films featured a lead of colour in 2024, a decrease from 2023, when 37 leads or co-leads were people of colour.

A third of all Paramount Pictures films released in 2024 featured a lead or co-lead of colour, with Lionsgate (27.3 per cent) and Universal Pictures (26.7 per cent) having similar demographics.

Walt Disney Studios (20 per cent), Sony Pictures Entertainment (15.4 per cent) and Warner Bros Pictures (11.1 per cent) reflected even lower numbers.

In 2024, no distributors reached proportional representation with the US census (41.6 per cent).

“This downturn signifies a lack of investment in storytelling that reflects the audience as a whole,” Prof Smith said.

“The reality is that audiences want to see stories about women and people of colour – studios and film-makers do not have to choose between the two,” she added.

Thirteen films in 2024 had a woman of colour lead or co-lead, which is similar to USC’s 2023 report and higher than the 2007 report.

The study’s lead author Katherine Neff said:“While this year’s findings mark a historic step towards proportional representation for women, there is still work to be done for women of colour.” REUTERS

Join ST’s Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Get our latest downloads and information first.
Complete the form below to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.


No, thank you. I do not want.
100% secure your website.