By 
The much-spouted conservative catchphrase “go woke, go broke” has long been used as a criticism of various industries, even as studies in those industries indicate the opposite is true.
It now appears to have happened again, this time with the film industry, according to UCLA’s newly released Hollywood Diversity Report published yesterday (via Variety).
The report, which delves into box-office trends and audience preferences, has found that films with casts comprising 41–50% BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) performed best across several categories.
Those categories? Highest median global and domestic box office receipts, largest average theatre releases, highest average opening-weekend rank and widest international distribution.
That specific bracket mirrors the 45.2% BIPOC share of the population in the United States, where the study was conducted – meaning films that reflect actual demographic reality are the ones audiences are clicking with, even on a global scale.
White moviegoers dominated biographies, documentaries, and dramas – the genres with the lowest median box office receipts. BIPOC audiences made up the majority of viewers for animation and horror films, and almost half of action film audiences. Sci-fi films generated the highest median global box office across all genres.
Female filmgoers bought the majority of opening-weekend tickets for 2 of the top 10 films and 4 of the top 20. 13 of the top 20 films favoured by female audiences featured casts over 40% female, and 12 of those films were women-focused stories. 19 of the top 20 films with the largest share of female opening-weekend audiences had a female lead or co-lead.
BIPOC moviegoers bought the majority of domestic opening-weekend tickets for 5 of the top 10 films and 11 of the top 20.
Among white moviegoers, 7 of the top 20 films included casts with more than 30% BIPOC representation. Among BIPOC audiences, that rose to 10-13 of the top 20.
The report concludes: “People want stories they can relate to and connect with in the movies they watch. In a society where people increasingly do not interact with each other in person, film affords people the opportunity to connect with others whom they may never come in contact with in real life and helps them to understand their shared humanity. This is why meaningful representation in film is so vital and why Hollywood must adapt to meet this need.”
The post Study: Diverse Cast Films Deliver Box-Office appeared first on Dark Horizons.
