For as many major films with male protagonists that were offered in 2024, an equal number featuring female protagonists was also offered — for the first time ever.
According to USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s latest report, which assesses gender, race/ethnicity and age of the leading and co-leading actors for each movie from the 1,800 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2024, female leads finally hit parity, at least as far as representation goes.
Per the findings out Tuesday, of the 100 top-grossing films in 2024, 54 featured a girl or woman in a lead or co-lead role. This marks a significant jump up from 2023, where only 30 movies featured a female-identified protagonist.