Box office hit films are four times more likely to star a talking animal than a woman over 60, according to a new survey by Age Without Limits.
The anti-ageism campaign studied the 100 highest performing films released in the UK in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and found that while five starred an older woman, about 20 featured creatures who chat.
Meanwhile six starred a male actor called Chris – of which Chris Pratt accounted for half.
However, while two of the remaining Chris instances (Pine and Hemsworth) headlined big budget blockbusters, the sixth – Christian Friedel – was co-lead in an acclaimed arthouse film: Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest (2024). Friedel is known only to his friends as Chris.
The five films starring an older woman that made the top 100 chart in the UK over the three year period were Allelujah (2023), My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023), Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023), The Substance (2024) and Freakier Friday (2025).
I feel like part of it is that you need scripts where there is enough spectacle to deserve seeing it in theaters. I can only think of two in the last few years involving an actress over 50 in a leading role to justify it: The Substance and Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. If you want to go for something smaller, there is also 80 for Brady.
Maybe some of the older women actors need to start working on writing, directing, and producing like a lot more millennial actors are of they want movies made that star them.