A USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study reveals that just nine women directed the 100 highest-grossing films of 2025, marking an 8.1% representation and a sharp decline from 2024. This figure represents a seven-year low for female directors in Hollywood. The report highlights ongoing challenges in gender equity behind the camera.
The latest edition of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's report, titled “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair,” analyzed 111 directors across 2025's 100 top-grossing films at the U.S. box office. Only nine were women, equating to 8.1%—a steep drop from 13.4% (15 women) in 2024. This is the lowest since 2018, described as a “Great Recession” for women directors, with numbers similar to 2008.
The women directors included Nisha Ganatra (“Freakier Friday”), Emma Tammi (“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2”), Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian (“Elio”), Celine Song (“Materialists”), Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (“I Know What You Did Last Summer”), Maggie Kang (“KPop Demon Hunters”), Hikari (“Rental Family”), and Chloé Zhao (“Hamnet”). Of these, only Song, Zhao, and Tammi had previously directed top-grossing films. Over the 19-year study period (2007-2025, covering 1,900 films), just 24 women directed more than one such film, with Anne Fletcher and Lana Wachowski each helming four, and Greta Gerwig three.
Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the study's author and founder of the initiative, stated: “The 2025 data reveals that progress for women directors has been fleeting.” She added: “While it is tempting to think that these changes are a result of who is in the Oval Office, in reality, these results are driven by executive decision-making that took place long before any DEI prohibitions took effect. Many of these films were greenlit and in pre-production before the 2024 election.”
Racial diversity showed 24.3% of directors from underrepresented groups, unchanged from 2024. Women of color made up 5.4% (six directors, all Asian), outnumbering white women (three) for the first time. Yet, Smith noted: “It is clear that when it comes to directors, hiring decisions are not made solely on the basis of performance... These results demonstrate that the quality of movies by women of color is not only overlooked, it is actively ignored.” Films by women of color earned the highest average and median Metacritic scores.
By distributor, Universal Pictures (9.4%) and Walt Disney Studios (8%) led in hiring women over 19 years; in 2025, Disney had three, while Paramount, Warner Bros., and Lionsgate had none. The report contrasts this with higher rates elsewhere: 63.6% of U.S. dramatic competition films at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, 37% of TV episodes in 2023-2024, and 20.5% of Netflix movies in 2024.
