Furthermore, the study found that diversity within the area was also improving: of the 40, 11 films contained lead characters from what were described as “under-represented racial/ethnic groups”, and 11 that contained characters aged 45 or over.
Hollywood has improved its diversity record in terms of female characters and people of colour in its most successful films, a study has found.
The current number is the highest since the study began in 2007.
The wider picture on diversity also showed an increase, with 28 films containing lead or co-lead characters from under-represented groups, up from 21 in 2017.