Annual study finds 40% of 2019 blockbusters featured a female lead – with women’s involvement behind the camera a vital factor
In what is likely to be seen as a boost for Hollywood’s drive to redress decades of male dominance on screen, a new report suggests that a record percentage of leading characters in successful
American films are female.
The new edition of It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World, an annual report from the Center for the Study of
Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, finds that 40% of the 2019’s high-grossing US films contained a female lead character, compared with 43% male (with the remaining 17% having ensemble or equal male-female leads). This is the highest proportion that the survey has recorded, with the earliest figures, from 2002, at 16%. The lowest year was 2011, when the figure was 11%.