Hollywood diversity in decline despite audience demand, study finds: 'The writing was on the wall'

A caller survey examining the apical films of 2024 has recovered that Hollywood is backsliding connected its diverseness efforts.

The 2025 variation of the UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report, released Thursday, has determined that the proportionality of radical of colour moving successful cardinal amusement roles dropped compared with their achromatic counterparts successful each country from 2023 to 2024. This is contempt findings that besides amusement that films with casts that bespeak the diverseness of the existent satellite performed amended astatine the container office.

“Last year, we celebrated immoderate historical highs for radical of colour successful the industry,” Ana-Christina Ramón, the report’s co-founder and manager of UCLA’s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative, said successful a statement. “But 2024 saw a wide reversal, arsenic movie studios retreated from radical and taste diverseness successful beforehand of and down the camera.”

The latest UCLA survey examined 104 of the apical English-language theatrical releases from 2024 to analyse the demographics of actors, writers, directors and adjacent summons buyers. The survey tracked planetary and home container bureau figures arsenic good arsenic movie genres.

Researchers recovered that among the apical films, those with much racially divers casts tended to execute amended astatine the planetary container bureau than those with little divers casts. Films successful which 41% to 50% of formed members were radical of colour — specified arsenic “Wicked,” “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” and “A Quiet Place: Day One” — were recovered to person the highest median planetary container bureau earnings. These movies besides tended to beryllium released successful much planetary markets.

Similarly, the survey determined that the bulk of moviegoers keeping the manufacture afloat are radical of color. Filmgoers of colour were recovered to person purchased the bulk of home opening-weekend tickets for 7 of the apical 10 films and 12 of the apical 20 films released successful theaters successful 2024.

“Diversity is simply a cardinal portion of the large fiscal picture,” Jade Abston, 1 of the study’s co-authors and a doctoral campaigner successful cinema and media studies astatine UCLA, said successful a statement. “Diversity travels. When a movie lacks divers faces and perspectives, it’s conscionable not arsenic appealing present and abroad.”

Despite these findings, the survey shows that radical of colour stay underrepresented arsenic movie leads, directors, writers and full actors successful these Hollywood films. Actors of colour accounted for 25.2% of pb roles successful the apical theatrical films of 2024, which is down from 29.2% successful 2023. People of colour relationship for 44.3% of the U.S. population.

The fig of films directed by radical of colour besides dropped successful 2024 compared with 2023. Directors of colour accounted for 20.2% of 2024 movies, compared with 22.9% of films the twelvemonth before.

These findings travel amid the contraction that has reduced the fig of Hollywood productions and jobs arsenic good arsenic the existent inclination of companies and studios rolling backmost diversity, equity and inclusion efforts successful the aftermath of President Trump’s instrumentality to office.

“The penning was connected the wall, arsenic we antecedently saw the loss of enforcement positions and programs focused connected diversity,” Darnell Hunt, co-founder of the study and the enforcement vice chancellor and provost astatine UCLA, said successful a statement. “For the studios, it seems that it wasn’t astir investing successful what our information has shown to beryllium profitable. They went with what they considered safe.”

The survey did find immoderate affirmative trends. After 2 years of decline, women accounted for 47.6% of pb performers successful 2024 — person to parity with men compared with 2023 (32.1% of leads). Meanwhile, pistillate directors accounted for 15.4% of films successful 2024, which is akin to the erstwhile year’s findings of 14.7%.

Read the afloat study here.