New research reveals that the top-grossing films of 2024 were led by female protagonists as much as by men.
Women achieved gender parity on the big screen in 2024 for the first time in the US, according to two new studies.
Out of the 100 top-grossing films of last year, women led 42 percent of the films, the same percentage as their male counterparts, with 16 percent led by ensembles. That's according to Dr Martha Lauzen’s annual It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World report, says IndieWire. Lauzen's report, now in its 23rd year, said that 2024 “offered one of the richest slates of films featuring female protagonists in recent memory”.
For the purposes of the study, the center’s official press release notes that “protagonists are the characters from whose perspective the story is told.”
Furthermore, an ongoing study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative also found that 54 percent of films last year were led or co-led by women, which is a big jump up from 30 percent the previous year.
“We have always known that female-identified leads would make money,” said Dr Stacy L Smith, head of the study. “This is not the result of an economic awakening, but is due to a number of different constituencies and efforts... to assert the need for equality on screen.”
Recent major hits led by women included Wicked, Inside Out 2, The Substance, Moana 2, Mean Girls and It Ends with Us.
However, there remains a gap in how women over the age of 45 are represented compared to men. Out of the year’s 100 top films there were eight led by an older woman compared to 21 that were led by an older man.