More data has been released comparing the box-office success of movies about women versus movies about men, and the results reinforce what we’ve been saying for ages: female-led movies not only make money, but make more money than male-driven ones.
Mic looked at the box-office grosses of the top 25 highest-earning films each year from 2006 to mid-October 2015 and concluded that hits with female protagonists grossed an average of $126.1 million, whereas hits with male protagonists made an average of $80.6 million. That’s nearly $50 million in favor of women — and yet, so many people in the entertainment industry are, as Cate Blanchett famously said, “still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the center are niche experiences.”
If you’re wondering about the methodology of their investigation, ensemble films were excluded for consideration, as were movies where male and female characters shared roughly equal amounts of screen time. Also not counted were animated features and movies centered on non-human objects such as “Transformers.”
As Mic observes, “The conventional wisdom that movies about women don’t earn money isn’t wise at all.” The idea that female-driven movies don’t make money is unwise and makes for bad business. This mentality, borne of untrue assumptions and sexism, results in fewer movies with female protagonists — even though movies about women make more money,
Wake up, Hollywood. Or as Blanchett put it, “The world is round, people.” There’s ample evidence to support the claim that moviegoers will see female-centric movies, so supply the demand already.
Check out more information at Mic.
[via Mic]
