There is a new trend in Hollywood; instead of young male actors taking the lead roles in major action franchises, it is females that are taking over the market. From Jennifer Lawrence to Shailene Woodley to Scarlett Johansson, Hollywood is seeing a change in the tides and a focus towards female-focused storylines.
Not only are these leading ladies taking major roles in multi-million dollar franchises, they are also helping to deliver some of the largest-grossing box offices successes over the past decades. From the Hunger Games series to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, leading ladies now equal success and box office gold.
These ladies who are taking the main roles are your typical action stars, performing some of their own stunts and even taking center stage during many fight sequences on screen. The barriers between what a male and female action star can do are being taken down.
Take, for example, Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence is known for her leading role in The Hunger Games franchise and her role in recent X-Men films as the shapeshifting Mystique. Lawrence has the ability to draw in a large female audience, but also connects with the male fan base that loves these storylines as well. She has overall star appeal and is helping to propel both these franchises to the top of the box office earnings.
Her popularity is growing at such a rate that the producers of X-Men are already thinking about a spinoff for Lawrence to star in herself. This move would be breaking down the doors of a comic book industry that is heavily male-dominated, aside from Black Widow, played by Johansson, who has been another great example of how a female can lead and steal an entire movie from her male co-star.
With more films in the Divergent and Hunger Games series, this trend is not changing any time soon. Gone are the days when a young male actor had to be the action hero and save the damsel in distress - in 2014, the girl can save the world and get the guy all on her own accord.