{"id":5828,"date":"2026-08-13T06:05:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T06:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5828"},"modified":"2026-08-13T06:05:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T06:05:44","slug":"hollywoods-top-grossing-films-of-2025-show-limited-progress-toward-inclusion-study-says-the-pace-of-change-has-been-slow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5828","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood\u2019s Top-Grossing Films of 2025 Show Limited Progress Toward Inclusion, Study Says: \u2018The Pace of Change Has Been Slow\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tAfter nearly 20 years of tracking representation metrics, the latest report from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative reveals that Hollywood\u2019s film industry has not made lasting progress towards inclusion. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5826\">\u2018Far From the Trees\u2019 Director Meritxell Colell on Turning Exile and Endangered Languages Into a \u2018Body of Memory\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWhile we\u2019ve seen pockets of progress for women on screen, the pace of change has been slow. Year after year, many of the same patterns remain,\u201d Dr. Smith said in a statement about the study. \u201cIncremental improvement is important for achieving meaningful transformation, but after nearly 2 decades of research and advocacy from many groups, it is clear that the industry is content to wait for change to find them rather than pursuing solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSmith\u2019s statement accompanies the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative\u2019s annual report, titled \u201cInequality in 1,900 Popular Films,\u201d which examines representation and inclusion metrics for the 100 top-grossing films of 2025. The study evaluates representation on camera (based on gender, race\/ethnicity, the LGBTQ+ community and people with disabilities) and behind the scenes (the gender and race\/ethnicity of directors, writers, producers, composers and casting directors), adding to a dataset that began in 2007.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSome key takeaways from the study include that, despite comprising just over 50% of the U.S. population, in 2025, just 33.6% of all speaking or named characters were women and girls. Remarkably, that figure hasn\u2019t changed much in 19 years (29.9% in 2007). In terms of lead or co-lead roles, women and girls have seen progress (38 films in 2025 compared to 20 in 2007), but the figure dipped from the 19-year high of 55 lead\/co-lead roles in 2024. Of those 38 films, 15 had a female lead\/co-lead from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, and 3 had a female lead\/co-lead 45 years of age or older. Only 4 nonbinary speaking or named characters were coded across the sample. <\/p>\n<p>\n\tLGBTQ+ representation on screen remained static from 2024, with 36 speaking or named characters (less than 1%) in 2025, but not one transgender character appeared in the sample. The percentage of characters with a disability also stayed relatively stagnant at 2.8% (121 characters). <\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhen it came to representation behind the scenes, the study further contextualizes an earlier report that only 9 of the 111 directors who helmed 2025\u2019s top-grossing films were women: Nisha Ganatra (\u201cFreakier Friday\u201d), Emma Tammi (\u201cFive Nights at Freddy\u2019s 2\u201d), Domee Shi (\u201cElio\u201d), Madeline Sharafian (\u201cElio\u201d), Celine Song (\u201cMaterialists\u201d), Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (\u201cI Know What You Did Last Summer\u201d), Maggie Kang (\u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d), Hikari (\u201cRental Family\u201d) and previous best director Oscar winner Chlo\u00e9 Zhao (\u201cHamnet\u201d). The percentage and number of women directors in 2025 has significantly decreased since 2024 (a record high 16 women), but was identical to 2008. Across all 19 years, just 7% of directors were women.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5824\">Indian Freedom Fighter Bhagat Singh Series in Development at Collective Studios\u2019 Historyverse (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tWomen writers and producers filled 16% and 24.4% of their respective roles in 2025, a figure that hasn\u2019t markedly changed from 2007. The greatest change was observed for women composers, whose employment has surged since 2007, when there were no women composers working across the top 100 movies. In 2025, 10 women (8.5%) were credited with working as composers.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn terms of racial and ethnic diversity, 41.5% of all speaking or named characters were from an underrepresented group, a figure that reaches proportional representation to the world\u2019s population for just the fourth time in 19 years. Since 2007, the percentage of white characters fell by 19.1%; however, only the percentage of Asian characters has increased significantly (by 11.1%).  And there are still significant ways that groups were left out of storytelling: 30 movies did not have any Black characters, 46 were missing Hispanic\/Latino characters, and 26 excluded Asian characters. <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cNineteen years of data show that change is possible, but they also show how fragile that progress can be,\u201d said Dr. Smith. \u201cThis is not the first time this report has shown that meaningful gains are followed by a return to business as usual. At a moment when the industry is redefining its future, inclusion can be part of the solution, not a casualty of contraction. The question is no longer whether the industry can change. It\u2019s whether it will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tFor the full report, visit the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative .<\/p>\n<p>\n<em>[Pictured above (clockwise): <\/em>\u201c<em>One of Them Days<\/em>,\u201d\u201c<em>KPop Demon Hunters,<\/em>\u201c\u201c<em>Freakier Friday<\/em>\u201c<em> and <\/em>\u201c<em>Hamnet<\/em>\u201c<em>]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5822\">Ritchie Blackmore Performs With Deep Purple for First Time Since Acrimonious Split in Early \u201990s, After Warning Fans: \u2018I Have Not Played Rock Music in 25 Years\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The annual report from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative examined representation in the 100 top-grossing films of 2025, finding little progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4545],"class_list":["post-5828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-usc-annenberg-inclusion-initiative"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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