Women of Color See Gains in Top-Grossing Movie Roles in 2022

Brent Lang Executive Editor Viola Davis, Michelle Yeoh and Jenna Ortega may have topped the box office and won rave reviews in the likes of “The Woman King,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Scream,” but Hollywood still tended to bank on movies with male leads. A new survey of the top 100 grossing domestic releases found that women only accounted for 33% of movie protagonists. That represented an infinitesimal two percentage point increase from 2021, according to the report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. And don’t expect actresses to get as many lines as their male counterparts. Females accounted for 37% of all speaking characters in 2022, up 3 percentage points from 34% in 2021. Men had 63% of speaking roles, and 0.1% of speaking characters were transgender. One speaking character was non-binary.

The percentage of female characters portrayed in the 100 top domestic grossing films increased only “slightly” last year compared to 2021, according to the latest report from San Diego State. Last year, they accounted for 33% of the protagonists – up from 31% in 2021, but well below the 40% high-water mark achieved in 2019.

For Elvis, prosthetic designers Jason Baird and Mark Coulier thought the bulk of their work would be transforming Tom Hanks into Colonel Tom Parker. They were surprised to find that the real challenge was the subtle changes for Austin Butler as Elvis throughout the film. Baz Luhrmann’s biopic takes a 20-year look at the unprecedented superstardom of the legendary Elvis Presley (Austin Butler.) The story is told through the eyes of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), as he navigates Presley’s career through rock ’n’ roll, Hollywood movies, and a Las Vegas residency. As he aged, the prosthetics on Elvis needed to change gradually, to create an almost imperceptible difference to simulate his natural aging.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The American Society of Cinematographers handed out its best visual storytelling in feature film award to “Elvis” on Sunday night, and in doing so, Mandy Walker has become the first woman to win the top prize in the society’s history. Walker triumphed over Greig Fraser (“The Batman”), Darius Khondji (“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”), Claudio Miranda (“Top Gun: Maverick” and Roger Deakins (“Empire of Light”) in a very competitive race.  Walker‘s win comes as Oscar voting ends on March 7, where she is also nominated. She became only the third woman ever nominated for cinematography for her work on “Elvis.” Rachel Morrison (“Mudbound”) made history as the first female DP to land a nom in 2018, while Ari Wegner was nominated last year for “The Power of the Dog.”

Biffy Clyro singer and guitarist Simon Neil and Mike Vennart (Biffy Clyro live guitarist, solo artist, and ex-Oceansize frontman), have announced a spring tour before releasing any music.They will be joined by Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Testament, Fantomas) on drums and Naomi Macleod (Bitch Falcon) on bass.Empire State Bastard kick the shows off in Glasgow on March 26 at Cathouse before heading to Manchester’s Rebellion on March 27 and London’s The Underworld on March 28. Tickets for the Glasgow show will be available here from 10am GMT this Friday (March 3) and tickets for the other shows here.Empire State Bastard intimate UK tour 2023:MARCH26 – Glasgow, Cathouse27 – Manchester, Rebellion28 – London, The UnderworldThe news follows the band sharing a first teaser of music last week – listen below.A post shared by Empire State Bastard (@esb666_)Neil previously spoke about the project during an In Conversation video chat with NME, where he said he had four albums lined up with Biffy Clyro, Marmaduke Duke, Empire State Bastard and Tippie Toes.He said at the time: “We’ve got the new Biffy record, Marmaduke Duke’s ‘Death Of The Duke’, then we’ve got Tippie Toes which is a mong-ageddon drone project where you can just take some valium and chill out, and then a grindcore extreme metal album called ‘Empire State Bastard’.

Shakira seemingly had some choice words — again — for her ex, Gerard Piqué's, new girlfriend, Clara Chia Martí.In an interview with the Mexican television news network NMás, the «Hips Don't Lie» singer let her exact feelings known while speaking about the need for women to support each other. And for those who don't, Shakira told journalist Enrique Acevedo that «there is a special place in hell for women who don't support other women.»Shakira, who shares two sons with the pro soccer star, also opened up about her emotional dependence on men and how she's come out stronger on the other end of this ordeal.«I think I also bought that story that a woman needs a man to complete herself,» she said in Spanish.

Holy s**t! Shakira just brutally called out her ex Gerard Piqué’s new girlfriend!

Shakira sat down for an interview and took a swipe at her ex partner Gerard Pique‘s new girlfriend Clara Chia Marti.

Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil’s new side project Empire State Bastard have shared their first teaser of music.The project, which also includes Biffy’s touring guitarist Mike Vennart, posted a short clip on Instagram today (February 24), which you can listen to below.Neil previously spoke about the project during an In Conversation video chat with NME, where he said he had four albums lined up with Biffy Clyro, Marmaduke Duke, Empire State Bastard and Tippie Toes.He said at the time: “We’ve got the new Biffy record, Marmaduke Duke’s ‘Death Of The Duke’, then we’ve got Tippie Toes which is a mong-ageddon drone project where you can just take some valium and chill out, and then a grindcore extreme metal album called ‘Empire State Bastard’. Honestly, it’s the one thing getting me through not touring – just knowing I can spend the year making new music.”A post shared by Empire State Bastard (@esb666_)Neil continued: “I like putting myself in these positions where I’m like, ‘I should never be doing this, so this is what I’m going to do’.

Shakira seemingly sings about her split from ex-husband Gerard Piqué in another new song.

Love Island's Tom Clare stormed out of villa in Thursday night's episode after Samie Elishi told him he was "p***ing her off". It was an emotional night for the islanders in the South African villa as it was time for the famous Movie Night, which shows clips for what each islander did while they were away in Casa Amor. One of the couples that experienced the most drama was Tom and Samie, who got into an argument after Tom had failed to tell Samie that he'd cuddled with one of the bombshells, Lydia Karakyriakou, in bed.

Superhero films are frequently box office smash hits.

EastEnders ' Clair Norris was worlds away from her character Bernadette Taylor on Tuesday night as she attended the Bat Out of Hell musical press night in London. The actress, 25, who has played Bernadette since 2017, looked effortlessly chic in a long black wraparound coat which she teamed with a quilted handbag and biker boots. Clair styled her brunette locks into a sleek loose hairdo, she added a slick of radiant makeup as she posed on the red carpet.The actress was also joined by EastEnders co-star Jamie Borthwick, who plays Jay Brown and also walked the red carpet.

Are they really closing the case like this?

Pedro Pascal is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood at the moment.

James Cameron truly is king of the box office.

From one Bachelor Nation star to another. Clare Crawley is sharing some words of advice for current Bachelor star Zach Shallcross after he claimed show producers wouldn’t always let him intervene in the women’s drama.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter James Cameron’s blockbuster epic “Titanic” has relinquished its spot as the third-highest grossing movie in history to another James Cameron blockbuster epic, “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The sci-fi sequel has generated $2.2433 billion globally, enough to overtake “Titanic” with $2.2428 billion at the worldwide box office. Now, “The Way of Water” trails only “Avatar” ($2.92 billion) and “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.7 billion) on all-time box office charts. Cameron, the sole filmmaker with three movies to gross $2 billion or more, has directed the first, third and fourth biggest releases ever. Like the original “Avatar,” the follow-up’s success is attributed to its generation-spanning appeal as well as the incentive to watch the film in premium and 3D formats. On Imax screens, the movie has crossed $250 million. That’s more coinage than many films manage to earn in their entire theatrical runs.

There are big movies, and there are box office behemoths.