In a year that men in Hollywood fell into disgrace amid sexual misconduct revelations, women rose to the top at the box office.
The three top-grossing films featured women in the lead roles for the first time in decades, according to reports.
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” with Daisy Ridley finished 2017 at $533 million in domestic ticket sales, followed by “Beauty and the Beast” with Emma Watson ($504 million) and the Patty Jenkins–directed “Wonder Woman” ($412.6 million), starring Gal Gadot.
“Women truly emerged as the giants of cinema this year,” Paul Dergarabedian, a senior comScore analyst, told The New York Times.
Gal Gadot as "Wonder Woman" helped women to slay the box office in 2017. (Photo: Warner Bros)
The historical depth of the feat depended on the publication. The Wrap, citing Box Office Mojo and Box Office Madness, said the last time women-led movies went 1-2-3 at the ticket window was 1958, when “South Pacific” with Mitzi Gaynor, “Auntie Mame” with Rosalind Russell and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” with Elizabeth Taylor captured audiences.
But The New York Times wrote that box office statistics were not comprehensively tracked until 1980. The outlet still noted that the top-three domination for women hadn’t occurred in at least several decades.
Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, had plenty to smile about in 2017 after "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" collected an otherworldly $517 million at the domestic box office in just three weeks. (Photo: Stuart C. Wilson via Getty Images)
Overall, the domestic box office wasn’t such a wonder, grossing $11.2 billion in 2017, the Times reported. That’s a 2.3 percent dip from 2016.
Female-led films in 2018 with blockbuster potential include the “Tomb Raider” reboot with Alicia Vikander and the ensemble film “Ocean’s Eight.”
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