‘Wonder Woman,’ ‘Black Widow’ Lead Rush of Female-Led Movies for 2020
Four of the five most-anticipated movies in 2020 were directed by women. The fifth is the next James Bond film.
(Bloomberg) -- Big-budget movies with female heroes and directors will dominate like never before in 2020.
Four of the five most-anticipated movies in 2020 were directed by women, according to Fandango, a ticket site that has surveyed consumers for more than a decade. The company compiled votes from more than 2,000 millennial fans in the final weeks of December.
The highest-ranked movies in the survey were Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman 1984” and a trio of Disney films: “Black Widow,” “The Eternals” and “Mulan.”
“No Time to Die,” a James Bond movie directed by a man, rounded out the top five.
The shift suggests Hollywood is getting more aggressive about catering to women at the box office. U.S. female filmgoers age 15 to 24 account for 2 million admissions a week, compared with 1.7 million for their male counterparts, according to a study released in June by Webedia Movies Pro and Vertigo Research.
The movie industry is closing out a sluggish 2019. Though a handful of mostly Disney movies made over $1 billion apiece at the box office, overall revenue in North America was down 4.6% this year through last weekend.
Studios may have un uphill fight in 2020. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding female-led films, there are fewer surefire hits in the pipeline. There won’t be a Star Wars movie, and Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe is introducing new characters to fans.
The “Eternals” film, for instance, features an ensemble cast of new Marvel heroes, led by Angelina Jolie. The movie is directed by Chloé Zhao, a Beijing-born filmmaker best known for independent movies such as “The Rider.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Turner in Los Angeles at nturner7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.