Predicting Female Representation in Film: Financial Characteristics and Their Influence on Bechdel Test Performance

This study investigates the relationship between financial characteristics of films-namely budget, domestic gross, and international gross earnings-and their likelihood of passing the Bechdel Test. Utilizing secondary data sourced from FiveThirtyEight's analysis of gender representation in Hollywood, we employed K-means cluster analysis and logistic regression to analyze how financial performance correlates with the inclusion of meaningful female representation in films. The K-means clustering results identified distinct financial profiles for movies that pass versus fail the Bechdel Test, revealing that films passing the test exhibit greater diversity in financial characteristics, while those failing tend to cluster in lower budget and earnings categories. Logistic regression further clarified these relationships, indicating a negative association between budget and domestic gross earnings with the likelihood of passing the Bechdel Test, while international gross earnings positively correlated with this likelihood.