Blockbusters skew away from older women

A new study has found that blockbuster films are significantly more likely to feature talking animals or male leads named Chris than they are to centre on women over the age of 60, exposing what campaigners describe as a persistent and "insulting" imbalance in on-screen representation.

The research, carried out by the anti-ageism campaign Age Without Limits, examined the 100 highest-grossing films released in the UK across 2023, 2024 and 2025, and identified stark disparities in who is granted leading roles in mainstream cinema.

According to the findings, only five of those films starred a woman over 60, while around 20 featured talking animals. The study also noted that six of the top-performing titles were led by actors named Chris, with Chris Pratt accounting for half of those appearances.

While other iterations included Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth in major studio productions, one entry was more unusual: Christian Friedel, co-leading in Jonathan Glazer's 'The Zone of Interest' (2024), who is known informally as Chris.

The findings have prompted renewed debate over ageism and gender bias in the film industry, particularly in commercially successful productions that shape global audience expectations.

Among the few films featuring older female leads were 'Allelujah' (2023), 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3' (2023), 'Book Club: The Next Chapter' (2023), 'The Substance' (2024) and 'Freakier Friday' (2025). Researchers also pointed to several critically acclaimed titles outside the top 100, including 'Hard Truths', 'I'm Still Here' and 'Thelma', suggesting audience appetite may not be the limiting factor.

The survey further highlighted that the second highest-grossing UK film of 2025, 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy', narrowly missed inclusion in the older-women category because its star, Renee Zellweger, was three years younger than the study's threshold.

The period under review also coincides with the deaths or retirements of several prominent British actresses, including Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright and Glenda Jackson, alongside continued reduced visibility for veterans such as Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave. Glenda Jackson's final film, 'The Great Escaper', was not counted as a lead performance as she shared billing with Michael Caine.

Emma Thompson, 67, who has been among the most vocal supporters of the Age Without Limits campaign, said the findings reflected a broader cultural failure to reflect women's lives beyond middle age. "Women are half the population and we get older. So where are the stories about us?" she said.

She added that older women remain "compelling, relatable, and overdue for centre stage", arguing that cinema has yet to catch up with lived reality. Thompson's own recent projects underline the commercial challenges faced by such films: her 2025 noir drama 'Dead of Winter' grossed just $112,006 in the UK, despite strong reviews, while 2022's 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande' reached $1.3m during a period of post-pandemic recovery.

In a separate poll of 4,000 people conducted by the Centre for Ageing Better, one in six respondents said they would be more likely to watch a film featuring an older female lead, while 33% felt there were too few such stories. Only 3% believed there were too many.

Dr Carole Easton, chief executive of the Centre for Ageing Better, said the imbalance was "ludicrous" given the demographics of cinema audiences, noting that up to one in five UK filmgoers are aged 55 and above and collectively spend hundreds of millions annually.

Previous research cited in the report, including work by academics at the University of West London School of Film, Media and Design, found that only one in three speaking characters in nearly 50 popular films between 2010 and 2022 were aged 50 or above.

The study also concluded that women over 65 were significantly underrepresented compared with men of the same age, and that their characters were more likely to be passive or marginal to the main narrative. Older female characters, it found, were often "pitiable" or "ridiculed for failing to act their age". Campaigners argue that such portrayals reinforce social invisibility. "By failing to properly represent older people, and older women in particular, the film industry is actively participating in pushing them to the margins of society," said Harriet Bailiss, co-lead of the Age Without Limits campaign.

Separate analysis of awards trends suggests gradual but uneven progress. While the average age of Oscar nominees for best actress has risen from the early decades of the Academy Awards to 44 so far this decade, only a small number of women over 60 have won the category, with just two doing so over the age of 70.

Recent wins, including Michelle Yeoh's historic victory at age 60 in 2023, are seen by researchers as potential turning points, though industry patterns remain largely unchanged. Among potential contenders in the coming awards season are Julianne Moore, Marion Bailey and Ellen Burstyn, all of whom continue to secure significant roles in high-profile projects.

Meanwhile, Meryl Streep's upcoming sequel to 'The Devil Wears Prada' is already among the UK's highest-grossing films of the year, a reminder that older actresses can still draw audiences when given leading material in major productions.