Hollywood's recent gains for women who want to work behind the camera just hit reverse. A new study from USC's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative finds that only nine of the 100 highest-grossing films at the 2025 domestic box office were directed by women, down from 13 in 2024. That puts women at 8.1% of directors on the list, a drop from last year's 13.4% and well below the 2020 peak of 15%. The other 91 films were directed by 102 men, the New York Times reports. Among the few women who directed hits were Emma Tammi, with Five Nights at Freddy's 2, and Nisha Ganatra, with Freakier Friday.
The report on the study, led by researcher Stacy L. Smith, argues the issue isn't performance. Movies directed by women drew critical receptions on par with those directed by men—and women of color scored the highest praise of all. "If [hiring] were the case, then women of color would receive significantly more opportunities," Smith said, calling the 2025 numbers "a complete reversal of any progress" made in recent years. The report points directly at major studios for the decline. Paramount, Warner Bros., and Lionsgate did not employ a single female director on the year's top 100 films. Since 2007, Universal has hired the most women to direct its major releases; it's also the only studio in the group with a woman in a top content role: NBCUniversal chief content officer Donna Langley.
Overall, about one in four directors of 2025's top films came from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, roughly unchanged from 2024. The picture looks different outside big studio features. Over the past eight years, more than half of the films in Sundance's US dramatic competition have been directed by women. On TV, women directed 37% of episodes in the 2023–24 season, according to the Directors Guild of America. On Netflix, just over 20% of 2024 movie releases had women in the director's chair—a figure Smith cites while arguing that women would see more opportunities if Netflix, not Paramount, ends up acquiring Warner Bros.
The initiative has surveyed a total of 1,900 films released between 2007 and 2025, per Variety. Smith's prescriptions for change are straightforward: hire proven women directors, use transparent criteria in hiring decisions, and keep funding pipeline programs that support emerging female filmmakers, particularly women of color. (In a speech at the Academy Women's Luncheon in November, Kristen Stewart slammed Hollywood's "backsliding.")
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