Audiences Prefer Films With Diverse Casts, UCLA Study Finds

Increasingly diverse audiences across the United States also prefer diverse content in theatrical film releases, according to UCLA’s newly released Hollywood Diversity Report. Published on Thursday, the full report takes a deep dive into audience preferences, casting diversity, and box-office trends.

Films with casts that were 41–50% Bipoc performed the best across several categories, including the highest median global and domestic box office receipts, the largest average theater releases, the highest average opening-weekend rank, and the widest international distribution. The diversity range closely mirrors the 45.2% Bipoc share of the U.S. population, suggesting that films reflecting demographic reality resonate with audiences. Bipoc moviegoers also over-indexed as ticket buyers for films with 21–30% Bipoc casts and for films with more than 40% Bipoc casts.

The report also investigated genre trends in 2025 to further dissect audience preferences. Science fiction films generated the highest median global box office earnings, while horror films achieved the highest median return on investment.