Female characters had their biggest-ever representation in box office films last year, according to research.
The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film said a record 40% of 2019's highest-grossing US movies had women in a lead role - up 9%.
But black and minority ethnic (BAME) women are being left behind, the annual report also suggests.
Films on the list include Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Joker and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
Compiled from information from Box Office Mojo, the study said that 43% of the biggest movies had a male lead, while titles with equal male/female leads or ensemble casts accounted for the remaining 17%.
Film critic Dr Rebecca Harrison told the BBC the increase of representation in leading women on screen is "great" for megastar white actresses like Brie Larson, Angelina Jolie and Renee Zellweger, as well as Scarlett Johansson and Margot Robbie - who received two Bafta nominations in the same category this week. But "for women of colour" she added, "representation is still appalling".
The main female characters in question proved to be white 68% of the time, compared to their black colleagues (20%). Asian women made up 7% of the roles and Latina women 5%.
"The intersectional oppressions are alive and well," said Dr Harrison.
The survey - which began in 2002, when big female lead roles were at a lowly 16% - arrives after a week of criticism around the unfair treatment of women and BAME people, either side of the camera.
It's a Man's (Celluloid) World, which is the name of the study, suggested that in films with at least one female writer and/or director, 58% of the main characters were female.
That figure dropped to 30% in films made by men.