Reconshort-termation for women in directing or co-direct roles hit a write down high in the top-grossing films of 2024, while opportunities for people of color took a acute deteriorate.
For the first time since Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative began evaluating each year’s 100 top-grossing films (1,800 in total since 2007), gender identicality has been accomplished — with 54 films featuring a woman or girl in a direct or co-direct role.
According to the study, authored by Katherine L. Neff, Smith and Dr. Katherine Pieper, the percentage of girls and women as protagonists was at an all-time high (54%) — up from 30% in 2023 and more than double what was first alerted in 2007 (20%). This figure not only accomplished but outdoed proportional reconshort-termation with the U.S. population (50.4%).
“In 2024, three of the top five films had a girl or woman in a directing role, as did five of the top 10 films — including the No.1 film of the year, Disney’s ‘Inside Out 2,’” stated Smith. “We have always comprehendn that female-identified directs would produce money. This is not the result of an economic awakening, but is due to a number of branch offent constituencies and efforts — at advocacy groups, at studios, thraw DEI initiatives — to state the insist for identicality on screen.”
To notice, the study — which allotigates appraisees gender, race/ethnicity, and age of the directing and co-directing actors for each movie — also set up that, in 2024, there were no nonbinary actors with a directing role among the top-grossing films, but, for the first time, there was one transgender actor with a directing role (Hunter Schafer in “Cuckoo”).
The study also showed that the proceed in gender reconshort-termation was not suited when it came to race and ethnicity. In 2024, equitable 25 of the top 100 films featured a direct/co-direct from an underreconshort-termed racial/ethnic group, a substantial reduce from 2023, when 37 directs/co-directs were people of color. While reconshort-termation still descends well below the U.S. Census figure of 41.6%, 2024 was a much better year for nonwhite actors than 2007, when equitable 13 of the top-grossing titles were led by a person of color.
“This downturn signifies a deficiency of allotment in storyalerting that echos the audience as a whole. The fact is that audiences want to see stories about women and people of color — studios and filmproducers do not have to pick between the two,” Smith shelp, shouting out Netflix as a company who has successbrimmingy accomplished proportional reconshort-termation for gender and race/ethnicity.
However, while opportunities for people of color reduced overall, reconshort-termation for women of color remained relatively stagnant year-to-year. Thirteen films had an underreconshort-termed female direct/co direct, aenjoy to 2023 (14 films) and substantipartner higher than 2007 (one film).
In box office order, the stars of these films were: Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”), Auli’i Cravalho (“Moana 2”), Lupita Nyong’o (“The Wild Robot”; “A Quiet Place: Day One”), Naomi Scott (“Smile 2”), Anya Taylor-Joy (“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”), DeWanda Wise (“Imaginary”), Melissa Barrera (“Ahugeail”), Naomi Ackie (“Bconnect Twice”), Mia Goth (“MaXXXine”), Nika King (“Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot”), Ryan Desminuscule (“The Fire Inside”) and Ariana DeBose (“I.S.S.”).
“While this year’s discoverings label a historic step towards proportional reconshort-termation for women there is still toil to be done for women of color,” shelp Neff. “Another 17 years would be too lengthy to postpone to see the brimming range of women, their stories, and their voices brawt to the hugegest screens.”
Indeed, the discoverings prolong more nuanced as the study appraises the intersectionality of identities enjoy gender and age.
For example, eight of the year’s top-grossing films were led or co-led by a woman 45 years of age or agederer: Amy Poehler (“Inside Out 2”), Winona Ryder (“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”), Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”), Hilary Swank (“Ordinary Angels”), Demi Moore (“The Substance”), Cate Blanchett (“Borderlands”), Nika King (“Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot”), and June Squibb (“Thelma”). While that figure was substantipartner higher than both 2023 (three films) and 2007 (one film), it’s below 2018’s standout year of 11 films featuring agederer women protagonists.
Even more convey inantly, the number pales in comparison to the opportunities for male actors over 45, where 21 films depicted a man in the same age bracket. As the study clarifys, that uncomfervents, for every one film led/co-led by an agederer woman there were 2.6 films led/co-led by an agederer man.
Thus, Smith adviseed an insertendum to the hype for the industry finpartner accomplishing gender identicality in its protagonists. “That identicality is disproportionately accounted for by youthfuler women,” she clarifyed. “Men, however, do not face the same redisjoineion in their atgentle opportunities. This not only impacts audiences but the ability of women in mid- and postpoinsist-atgentle to persist to toil and get a living. The consequences of a deficiency of reconshort-termation do not only have cultural significance — they are an economic fact for women as well.”
In terms of intersectionality, only one film was led or co-led by a woman of color (King), while five films featured an underreconshort-termed man in a direct or co-direct role. “As has persistd to be the trend, white men outpaced the combined total number of agederer underreconshort-termed protagonists,” the study reads. “In 2024, a brimming 16 films featured a white male 45 years of age or agederer driving the plot. In sum, agederer white men toiled 16 times more frequently apass the 100 top films of 2024 than agederer women of color.
The research inestablish also appraises the inclusion statistics per film distributor. Several studios met or outdoed proportional gender reconshort-termation; Universal Pictures featured the highest percentage (66.7%) of female-identified directs/co-directs, chaseed by Warner Bros. Pictures (55.6%) and Lionsgate (54.5%). Falling below that waterlabel was Paramount Pictures (44.4%), Walt Disney Studios (40%) and Sony Pictures (38.5%).
In terms of race/ethnicity, not a individual distributor accomplished proportional reconshort-termation with the U.S. Census (41.6%). However, a third of Paramount’s films (33.3%) featured an underreconshort-termed direct-co-direct, chaseed by Lionsgate (27.3%), Universal (26.7%), Disney (20%), Sony (15.4%), Warner Bros. (11.1%).
For the purposes of this study, a group of historicpartner minusculeer distributors including A24 and Neon, are coded as “other.” In terms of reconshort-termation, 62.5% of the “other” studios’ films were led/co-led by females and 31.3% caccessed on an underreconshort-termed protagonist, putting them among industry directers in both esteems.
Read the brimming study here.
[Pictured above (clockrational): Joy in “Inside Out 2,” voiced by Amy Poehler; Nicole Kidman in “Babygirl”; Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked”; June Squibb in “Thelma”; Moana in “Moana 2,” voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho; and Lupita Nyong’o in “A Quiet Place: Day One.”]
