Number Of Leading Women Roles In Hollywood Movies Fell Last Year

The number of female protagonists in the 100 highest-grossing films fell five percentage points last year, according to a new report from San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. Women made up 24 percent of featured protagonists, defined for the study’s purposes as characters from whose perspective the story is told. It’s an odd occurrence, given that the three most popular films of last year’s domestic box office list each featured a woman in a lead role: Rey in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Belle in “Beauty and the Beast” and Diana Prince of “Wonder Woman.”