Some of the biggest films of recent years – from Avatar: The Way of Water and Jurassic World to Barbie – were co-directed or co-written by women. Yet despite the financial success of films involving women, a new study published in Frontiers in Communication suggests that the industry’s largest production budgets continue to go overwhelmingly to male filmmakers.

“Films with a woman screenwriter but no woman director had 34% higher median profits than films with only men in those roles, despite similar budgets,” said Anja Huwiler, the study’s author and a researcher at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. “Yet 39 of the 44 films in the top 1% of production budgets were male-only productions, and none involved a woman director.”

The study examined almost 200,000 films released between 1994 and 2023, including theatrical and non-theatrical releases. For more than 4,200 films, researchers also analysed production budgets and worldwide gross revenues. The findings showed that women’s participation behind the camera has increased, but progress has been slow.

The proportion of films crediting at least one woman as a director or screenwriter rose from 21.5% in 1994 to 29.4% in 2023. After nearly three decades, fewer than one in three films included a woman in either role. The financial results, however, showed that films involving women could perform particularly well.

Films written, but not directed, by women generated the highest median profit, at approximately $35.9 million – 34% higher than the $26.8 million median for productions with only men as directors and screenwriters. These films also recorded a return on investment of 1.1, compared with 0.88 for male-only films. Films with women as both directors and screenwriters achieved a similar return to male-only productions while working with roughly half the budget.

Despite those results, the biggest budgets remained concentrated among male filmmakers. Male-only productions represented 74.8% of films in the top 10% of budgets, 78.6% in the top 5%, and 88.6% in the top 1%. No film involving a woman director reached the top 1% of production budgets during the 30-year study period.

Among the 44 films in the top 1% of budgets, five were written, but not directed, by women. Their median profit was approximately $113 million higher than that of male-only films, despite slightly lower median budgets. Similar patterns appeared among the top 5% and 10% of productions, where films written by women also recorded higher median profits.

The study did not determine why this mismatch persists, although Huwiler noted that uncertainty in film financing may encourage decision-makers to rely on familiar people and established practices. She also cautioned that the financial data consisted mainly of U.S. theatrical releases and that some groups, particularly women directors, had small sample sizes. Nevertheless, she said the findings offer a financial reason for studios and investors to reconsider existing hiring, greenlighting and budgeting practices.

More information: Anja Huwiler et al, Women in directing and screenwriting: the capital allocation puzzle in commercial film, Frontiers in Communication. DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2026.1838492

Journal information: Frontiers in Communication Provided by Frontiers