39 of the 100 most revenue-generating films last year had a female lead. 2017 was the same figure 33 and 2007, when you started the study, it was 20.
Several non-white actors also had major roles in major films last year, in part thanks to major successes for films such as Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther that reaped huge audience and critic success.
27 of the films in the survey had a non-white actor in the lead role to compare with the 21 years prior.
Among the studies are Stacy L. Smith, who initiated the Department of Inclusion initiative at the Annenberg school of communications.
- You see that the film companies are now making greater efforts to be more inclusive in their productions, she tells the industry magazine Variety.
Behind the camera, there are still mostly men. Of the 107 directors hired for the 100 films in the studio, only 5 were women.