Every studio movie directed by female filmmakers releasing in 2023 and 2024

Despite the unpredictability of recent years, both in Hollywood and beyond, the past few years have proven fruitful for female directors. From winning top prizes at the most star-studded festivals (including Sundance for Sian Heder, Nikyatu Jusu, Blerta Basholli; Cannes for Julia Ducournau; and Venice for Chloé Zhao, Audrey Diwan and Laura Poitras) to winning back-to-back Best Director Oscars (for the first time ever for Zhao and Jane Campion) and producing box office smash hits (like “Birds of Prey,” “Little Women,” “Black Widow,” and “Eternals "), women have been unquestionably on the ride.

Until, maybe, now. As we do every year, IndieWire looks to the next two years of female-directed studio features to get a sense of who Hollywood is elevating in still rarefied spaces. Getting the chance to helm a studio feature is of course not a director's golden ticket. But it's hard to deny the power and prestige of making a great movie released by a major studio, even in a world where streaming platforms are making significant inroads into the "blockbuster" space. And the awards space: Look no further than last year, when Apple debuted eventual Best Picture winner, "CODA," directed by Heder, and Netflix hosted "The Power of the Dog. " by Campion.

But for now, the studios are still home to big blockbusters, major moneymakers, and the kind of opportunities that continue to elude the vast majority of female filmmakers working in the contemporary era. And while conversations about the need for inclusion and diversity in front of and behind the camera have intensified dramatically in recent years, many other changes and developments have yet to take root in Tinseltown. Tracking who gets the big studio opportunities is just one of them. And the next two years for female directors? Well, there are warning signs.

"A beautiful morning"

Sony Pictures Classics

According to the latest study from Celluloid Ceiling, the longest and most comprehensive study of female employment in film, the percentage of women working as directors on the top 250 and top 100 films declined in 2021 ( which includes, of course, mostly studio films).

In 2021, women made up 17% of directors working on the top 250 movies, including "Black Widow," "Eternals," and "Candyman." This comes after female directors hit all-time highs in 2020, with women making up 18% of filmmakers at the helm of the top 250 domestic feature films, up from 13% in 2019 and 8% in 2018.

And with the 2022 box office over, things look even more dire. Only one female-directed film made the top 25: Olivia Newman's "Where the Crawdads Sing." Unlike 2021, no female directors helmed comic book movies, which tend to dominate the box office. Even more shocking: DC's upcoming "Wonder Woman 3" apparently won't be helmed by two-time franchise director Patty Jenkins. As of now, the film has no director attached.

But there is good news. Like always...