--- description: Female moviegoers will make these films rival the traditional action flicks at the box office title: "Pitch Perfect 2" and "Magic Mike XXL": Summer Blockbusters for Women image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8da9008005a1e2f5/69877e7be20a8783b7a85056/pitch-perfect2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 11 Movies Starring Women That Will Rival Summer Blockbusters ## Video: Paper Towns Official Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): Paper Towns Official Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NTkRni8L.m3u8) (2:42)  _Published 2015-03-19. Paper Towns Official Trailer_  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Mar 24, 2015 2:25 PM CUT  Universal Pictures  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Mar 24, 2015 2:25 PM CUT After moviegoing fell six percent in North America last year, studios are scrambling to promote films that can make it big at the box office this summer. And while traditionally that might mean luring young men who will bring their girlfriends and moms to reliable action franchises—from _The Avengers 2_ to _Furious 7_ and _Jurassic World_—it turns out that this summer’s best bet is probably women. Unsurprisingly, 52% of the population is eager to see themselves represented onscreen. But such opportunities are scarce: only 12% of the protagonists and 30% of all major characters in the top 100 grossing movies in 2014 were women, [according to](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014%5Fits%5Fa%5Fmans%5Fworld%5Freport.pdf "undefined") San Diego State University’s Celluloid Ceiling report. Perhaps that explains why women flood films with female stars and in doing so have become the demographic that determines summer hits. Last year, the Angelina Jolie movie, _Maleficent,_ [ranked among](http://time.com/2811177/maleficent-female-summer-blockbusters/ "undefined") the highest-grossing films at the box office, beating _Godzilla_, _The Amazing Spider-Man_ 2 and _X-Men: Days of Future Past_. And _The Fault in Our Stars_, a Shailene Woodley romance based on a young adult novel, [beat out](http://time.com/2811177/maleficent-female-summer-blockbusters/ "undefined") a well-reviewed Tom Cruise action film_, Edge of Tomorrow_. That’s to say nothing of films like _The Hunger Games_ and _Gone Girl,_ which outpaced many summer blockbusters when they premiered in the fall. Women have continued to rule the box office this spring. As The New York _Times_ [points ou](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/business/media/at-the-box-office-its-no-longer-a-mans-world.html?%5Fr=1 "undefined")t, _Fifty Shades of Grey_, _Cinderella_ and _Insurgent_—all films starring and aimed at women—have outperformed male-oriented films like _Jupiter Ascending_, _Hot Tub Time Machine 2_ and _Chappie_ at the box office. As we enter summer, some of the biggest box office hits, ranking alongside the traditional action movie, will likely be movies that can break from the mold and court women. **MORE:** [How Hollywood Can Get More Women to See Movies](http://time.com/2811177/maleficent-female-summer-blockbusters/ "undefined") **_Hot Pursuit_** **(May 8)** Reese Witherspoon set out to disrupt Hollywood when she created Type A Films, a production company dedicated to empowering female-centric movies. She quickly made her mark during Oscar season with _Gone Girl_ and _Wild_. This May, she’ll produce and star in the comedy _Hot Pursuit_ with _Modern Family_‘s Sofia Vergara. **_Pitch Perfect 2_** **(May 15)** As teenage boys are being drawn away from the movie theater by video games and YouTube clips, studios are increasingly relying on groups of young female friends to fuel movie ticket sales. Their best bet this summer will be the all-female a capella film _Pitch Perfect 2_. The original 2012 movie (and Anna Kendrick’s promotional YouTube video for it) was a surprise hit, and the studio is doubling down on the girl power theme this summer with a super-sized sequel. **_Tomorrowland_** **(May 22)** Though George Clooney may be the movie star in Disney’s _Tomorrowland_, Britt Robertson is the hero, starring as a gifted teenager who discovers a way to transport herself through time and space. **_Spy_** **(June 5)** The [backlash](http://www.mtv.com/news/2105060/paul-feig-female-ghostbusters-backlash/ "undefined") to the Paul Feig-directed, all-female _Ghostbusters_ suggests that even though both _Bridesmaids_ and _The Heat_ were hits, the director is still being challenged to “prove” that female-centric comedies can score big box office numbers. Feig and Melissa McCarthy will attempt to silence critics (again) with the genre-spoof _Spy_, co-starring Jude Law, Jason Statham and Rose Byrne. **_Inside Out_** **(June 19)** Though Pixar’s first attempt at a female protagonist, _Brave_, was a critical and box office disappointment (at least by Pixar standards), the animators are trying to redeem themselves with _Inside Out_. The movie delves into the mind of a young girl, exploring what thoughts and emotions control her day-to-day life. **_Terminator: Genisys_** **(July 1)** The closest movie on this list to a traditional action flick, the _Terminator_ franchise differentiates itself thanks to the Sarah Connor character. In this reboot, Sarah Connor already knows how to wield a gun and looks to get as much action as her male counterparts. Another hopeful sign: the film stars Emilia Clarke, who as Daenerys Targaryen on _Game of Thrones_ is no stranger to empowering roles. **MORE:** [These 8 Actresses Proved Women Can Carry a Summer Blockbuster](http://time.com/3086329/lucy-avengers-malificent-scarlett-johansson-angelina-jolie/ "undefined") **_Magic Mike XXL_** **(July 1)** If _Frozen_ and _The Hunger Games_ proved the power of the young female moviegoer, the first _Magic Mike_ movie confirmed that women over 18 also have sway in this industry. The film turned the stripper with a heart of gold trope on its head by making that stripper a man. Warner Bros. marketed the first _Magic Mike_ film as a bachelorette party, and the sequel, indiscreetly dubbed XXL, is bound to draw even more women to see Channing Tatum in a G-string. **_Trainwreck_** **(July 17)** Amy Schumer has already proven that she [can convince men that feminists are funny](http://time.com/45771/how-amy-schumer-got-guys-to-think-feminists-are-funny/ "undefined") on her Comedy Central show _Inside Amy Schumer_. Now she’s getting a chance on the big screen in a Judd Apatow-directed flick. Like _Magic Mike_, _Trainwreck_ looks to flip gender norms around with a commitment-phobic woman (Schumer) and the guy who actually calls the next day (and who watches _Downton Abbey_ with his best friend, LeBron James). **MORE:** [How Amy Schumer Gets Guys to Think Feminists Are Funny](http://time.com/45771/how-amy-schumer-got-guys-to-think-feminists-are-funny/ "undefined") **_Paper Towns_** **(July 24)** Author John Green has always been attentive to gender dynamics in his young adult novels. That’s especially true of _Paper Towns_, in which Green [has said](http://www.refinery29.com/2015/03/84174/paper-towns-john-green-ya-writing-women "undefined") female characters like Lacey and Margo upend boys’ expectations of them. After the last adaptation of one of Green’s books, _The Fault in Our Stars_, had a surprise $48 million opening weekend last year, 20th Century Fox is hoping that another film adaptation of Green’s work, _Paper Towns_, will draw the same young female demographic. **_Ricki and the Flash_** **(August 6)**  Meryl Streep attends SeriousFun Children's Network 2015 New York Gala: An Evening of SeriousFun Celebrating the Legacy of Paul Newman at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on March 2, 2015 in New York City. Neilson Barnard—2015 Getty Images In an industry where women [make up](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014%5Fcelluloid%5Fceiling%5Freport.pdf "undefined") only 11% of writers of the top 250 domestic films, Diablo Cody (_Juno_, _Young Adult_) is one of the few successful female screenwriters. Her newest film, _Ricki and the Flash_, stars Meryl Streep as an aging rock star who abandoned her family for fame. She tries to patch things up when she returns home to help her estranged daughter through a tough time. Though the movie has a summer release date, Streep’s involvement is almost sure to earn it Oscar buzz. **_Sicario_** **(Sept. 18)**  Emily Blunt attends the gala screening of "Into The Woods" at The Curzon Mayfair on January 7, 2015 in London, England Anthony Harvey—Getty Images After upstaging Tom Cruise in last year’s _The Edge of Tomorrow_, Emily Blunt is getting her own thriller. In it, Blunt plays an idealistic FBI agent enlisted by two members of a government task force (Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin) to take down a Mexican cartel. Blunt has shown range taking non-starring roles in action films (_Edge_, _Looper_), dramas where she should be overshadowed by Meryl Streep but isn’t (_The Devil Wears Prada_) and musicals (_Into the Woods_). _Sicario_ may finally give her the chance to take the starring role she deserves. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3754359/summer-blockbusters-pitch-perfect-2-avengers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3754359/summer-blockbusters-pitch-perfect-2-avengers/"},"headline":"11 Movies Starring Women That Will Rival Summer Blockbusters","datePublished":"2015-03-24T14:25:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:37.806Z","description":"Female fans of Pitch Perfect 2 and Magic Mike XXL will fuel summer movie sales","url":"https://time.com/3754359/summer-blockbusters-pitch-perfect-2-avengers/","keywords":["Living","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8da9008005a1e2f5/69877e7be20a8783b7a85056/pitch-perfect2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8da9008005a1e2f5/69877e7be20a8783b7a85056/pitch-perfect2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pitch Perfect 2","caption":"Pitch Perfect 2","creditText":"Universal Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3754359/summer-blockbusters-pitch-perfect-2-avengers/","name":"11 Movies Starring Women That Will Rival Summer Blockbusters"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Hot Pursuit Official Trailer #1","description":"Hot Pursuit Official Trailer #1","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lyMIzyso/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-23T16:18:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lyMIzyso.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3754359/summer-blockbusters-pitch-perfect-2-avengers/","duration":"PT2M33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3754359/summer-blockbusters-pitch-perfect-2-avengers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Pitch Perfect 2 – Official Trailer 2 (HD)","description":"Pitch Perfect 2 – Official Trailer 2 (HD)","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Xpz1maRc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-10T19:36:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Xpz1maRc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3754359/summer-blockbusters-pitch-perfect-2-avengers/","duration":"PT2M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3754359/summer-blockbusters-pitch-perfect-2-avengers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Disney's Tomorrowland Trailer #2 - 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