An annual study of the top-grossing movies (in the U.S.) finds that a concerningly low percentage of 2025’s biggest hits were directed by women. This aspect of filmmaking has historically been male-dominated, illustrated by only three women (Kathryn Bigelow, Chloé Zhao, and Jane Campion) having won the top directorial prize at the Oscars in nearly a century.
The study from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has released its data for 2025, revealing that of the 100 domestically highest-grossing movies of 2025, only nine women worked on them as directors, 8.1 percent of the 111 directors of these films. The highest-grossing movie of the year directed by a woman was Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.
This sequel, which probably benefited from being based on an existing IP, was helmed by Emma Tammi. The highest-grossing movies of 2025, as it stands, include A Minecraft Movie (Jared Hess), Lilo & Stitch (Dean Fleischer Camp), Superman (James Gunn), Jurassic World: Rebirth (Gareth Edwards), Wicked: For Good (Jon M. Chu), Zootopia 2 (Jared Bush, Byron Howard), and Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
Highest-Grossing 2025 Movies With Female Director(s)
Movie
Director(s)
Domestic Gross
Worldwide Total
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Emma Tammi
$119,956,995
$221,224,469
Elio
Domee Shi, Madeline Sharafian, Adrian Molina
$72,987,454
$154,291,182
Freakier Friday
Nisha Ganatra
$94,186,236
$153,176,952
Materialists
Celine Song
$36,521,973
$105,618,726
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
$32,165,634
$64,808,120
KPop Demon Hunters
Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
$24,300,000
$24,619,953
Hamnet
Chloé Zhao
$10,646,373
$10,531,950
Rental Family
Hikari
$10,047,429
$10,304,215
13.4 percent of the directors of the top 100 movies from 2025 were women, and this year’s percentage is the lowest it has been since 4.5 percent in 2018. This study also tracks racial diversity among Hollywood’s directors, and this year found that 24.3 percent of these directors were from underrepresented racial groups; 5.4 percent were women of color, and 2.7 percent were white women.
The annual study’s founder and author, Dr. Stacey L. Smith, commented on where this issue begins, saying in a statement:
The 2025 data reveals that progress for women directors has been fleeting. 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.
Dana Ledoux Miller co-directed Moana 2, the third highest-grossing movie worldwide of 2024, while Greta Gerwig directed the highest-grossing movie of 2025, the cultural global phenomenon of Barbie. The latter represented a rare box office accomplishment, cementing Gerwig as one of the most lucrative directors in the industry, who is set to release her Chronicles of Narnia reboot with Netflix in 2026.
Though they did not technically earn the most money, multiple movies directed by women achieved notable box office feats in 2025. Maggie Kang’s KPop Demon Hunters is considered to have been a massive box office success, released theatrically for only two weekends after becoming a global hit on Netflix, based on what it earned within only a few days.
KPop Demon Hunters was recognized among the 2026 Golden Globe nominations for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Additionally, while it was not a box office giant, Hamnet still made it into the top 100 and is widely considered one of the best movies of the year. Chloé Zhao is a likely Best Director nominee for the Oscars, while the movie will almost certainly be nominated for Best Picture.
Female filmmakers are doubtlessly doing great things, even while the data still reveals an uphill battle for them to be in the director’s chair.