Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights Tops Box Office
SkimNews Take
The commercial success of the female gaze in media suggests that women's desires and inner worlds were previously an underserved market, rather than a niche interest.
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- Sarah J Maas fuels romance novel sales, contributing to the $610 million annual market for romantasy in 2024.
- Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation topped the box office, re‑imagining the classic through a female‑centric psychological and erotic lens.
- BookTok drives billions of views on TikTok, amplifying the reach of romance and “spice” content.
- Dyin earned nine Emmy nominations, highlighting the mainstream appetite for women‑focused storytelling.
- Big Little Lies showcases interior lives and desires of women, cementing TV’s role in the female gaze movement.
Why it matters: Romance publishers capture $610 million in 2024 sales, while streaming services win higher engagement from women viewers; the shift forces male‑centric studios to retool content, boosting gender‑balanced storytelling.
