Women’s Lead Roles in Major Films Reach a 7-Year Low in 2025, USC Study Warns About Inclusion Impact of WB Merger
The representation of girls and women in leading roles across the top movies of 2025 has reached a seven-year low, according to a recent report by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.
The study revealed that among the 100 highest-grossing films of the year, only 39 featured a female lead or co-lead. This marks a substantial decline from 2024, which boasted a record high of 55 films, and is the lowest figure since 2018, which saw 40 films with female leads, as noted by Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the study’s author.
The report also highlighted the continued lack of representation for underrepresented female leads. In 2025, only 15 films included an underrepresented female lead or co-lead, mirroring the counts from 2024 and 2023. Notably, no films featured a woman of color aged 45 or older in such prominent roles, while just six films from the same year had an underrepresented male lead or co-lead.
The study criticized major distributors for these disparities, identifying Paramount and Warner Bros. as the lowest performers. In contrast, Universal led with over half (54.2%) of its films centered on a female lead or co-lead, followed by Lionsgate (50%) and Disney (43.7%). Warner Bros. and Paramount ranked last, with 20% and 12.5%, respectively.
Underrepresented casts were also examined, revealing that 50% of films from Disney, Lionsgate, and Sony Pictures featured leads who were people of color. Universal (25%) and Warner Bros. (20%) lagged behind, while Paramount had no underrepresented leads among its top 100 films.
“Given the distributor findings, it is clear a Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros. would be devastating for actors that identify as women and people of color,” the report stated. Dr. Smith emphasized, “With many eyes on a possible merger of these two companies, this data shows that it would be highly detrimental for talented actors who identify as women and/or people of color. In contrast, since 2019, at least half of Netflix films have featured a woman in a lead or co-lead role, and in all but one recent year, Netflix has achieved proportional representation for underrepresented leads.”
The report speculated that a merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. would create a different outcome. It noted that since 2019, Netflix films have consistently included a significant number of female leads, an indication that such a merger would likely foster greater diversity in storytelling.
The analysis pointed to the potential implications of a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros., suggesting it would dampen the opportunities for women and people of color in leading film roles.
The full report is available for further review.
