Jill Pantozzi of The Mary Sue points out that, when Lionsgate Films became the first movie studio ever to release two films in the same year that both grossed over \$125 million in their North American theatrical release, those two films both featured women in the lead.
The movies in question are, of course, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 and The Hunger Games. Pantozzi hopes that this will finally get the message through executives’ thick skulls that women can carry big-budget, successful movies:
Let’s think about this for a second. Both films starred female leads and both films played for what was projected to be a mostly female audience. That’s pretty huge and a good indicator going forward for not just Lionsgate but other studios. Women action stars besides Angelina Jolie can make money, and both men and women will want to see them.
Based on Hollywood’s previous track record, I’m going to predict that they will once again totally miss this indicator. One can hope, though.