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- Title
Million Dollar Maybe? The Effect of Female Presence in Movies on Box Office Returns.
- Authors
Lindner, Andrew M.; Lindquist, Melissa; Arnold, Julie
- Abstract
This study examines processes that contribute to the underrepresentation of women in film by linking the depiction of gender in film to its impact on domestic box office returns. Drawing on a sample of widely distributed movies from 2000 to 2009 ( n = 974), we test whether the box office under-performance of films with an independent female presence results primarily from 'downstream' public rejection or from an gendered 'upstream' division of resources that provides greater studio support to movies about men. Using a series of multivariate regression analyses and controlling for genre, critical appraisal, arthouse label, being a sequel, and including a popular star, films with a female presence earn less at the box office. This effect, however, appears to be largely the consequence of movies that feature women having smaller production budgets, suggesting that the underrepresentation of women in film stems from 'upstream' routines of film industry gatekeepers, not a lesser interest in stories about women in the minds of the public.
- Subjects
WOMEN in motion pictures; MOTION picture industry -- Social aspects; GENDER in motion pictures; FILM box office revenue; MOTION picture studios; MOTION pictures; MOTION pictures &; society
- Publication
Sociological Inquiry, 2015, Vol 85, Issue 3, p407
- ISSN
0038-0245
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/soin.12081