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Women Star In 2017 Blockbusters

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

For Hollywood, 2017 was not a great year for the box office. But there was one interesting thing - in 2017, movies led by women took the top three spots for the highest-grossing movies in the U.S. and Canada. No. 1, "Star Wars."

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MCEVERS: "The Last Jedi" had four leading ladies, including young Rey trying to find her way with the force.

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DAISY RIDLEY: (As Rey) I need someone to show me my place in all this.

MCEVERS: The No. 2 movie was the live-action remake of "Beauty And The Beast" starring Emma Watson as Belle, another woman looking for something more exciting.

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EMMA WATSON: (As Belle, singing) There goes the baker with his tray like always...

MCEVERS: And rounding out the top three Gal Godot as Wonder Woman.

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GAL GADOT: (As Diana) If no one else will defend the world then I must.

MCEVERS: This is the first time since 1958 that so many movies led by women topped the box office in a single year. That's according to Alicia Malone, a correspondent at Fandango.

ALICIA MALONE: Hollywood seems to have amnesia when it comes to the success of women. It's a surprise every time it happens, and then quickly it fades away and they continue with male-led movies.

MCEVERS: Women dominated not just the box office, but many of the Oscar contenders, too, movies like "Lady Bird"...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LADY BIRD")

SAOIRSE RONAN: (As Lady Bird McPherson) I want to go where culture is, like New York...

LAURIE METCALF: (As Marion McPherson) And how in the world did I raise such a snob?

RONAN: (As Lady Bird McPherson) ...Or at least Connecticut or New Hampshire.

MCEVERS: ..."The Shape Of Water"...

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OCTAVIA SPENCER: (As Zelda Fuller) I answer mostly on account of she can't talk. Mute, sir.

MCEVERS: ...And "The Post."

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MERYL STREEP: (As Kay Graham) We can't hold them accountable if we don't have a newspaper.

MCEVERS: Alicia Malone of Fandango says all these leading women driving ticket sales and critical success, this was not a coincidence.

MALONE: This shows that audiences are really hungry for seeing women in the lead roles. And I hope that Hollywood listens and this becomes more of a trend and we see more opportunities for women in the future.

MCEVERS: Malone says the future could be as soon as this year with movies like "Ocean's 8" and "A Wrinkle In Time" in the pipeline. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Kelly McEvers is a two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist and former host of NPR's flagship newsmagazine, All Things Considered. She spent much of her career as an international correspondent, reporting from Asia, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. She is the creator and host of the acclaimed Embedded podcast, a documentary show that goes to hard places to make sense of the news. She began her career as a newspaper reporter in Chicago.