Emma Stone brought in $26 million with her leading role in "La La Land," and other actresses also saw major dollar signs from their work this year, including Mila Kunis who saw success with "Bad Moms" and Emma Watson with "Beauty and the Beast."
But there have historically been few roles for women of color in Hollywood, particularly in blockbuster superhero flicks and Disney productions, which are major money-makers for stars.
In USA TODAY'S 2016 diversity report, we found fewer opportunities for female or minority directors and black, Hispanic or Asian performers to earn Oscar nominations, let alone win one —another major money-making opportunity.
And a study earlier this year found that it's more challenging for minority directors to even score a directing role for a major film. Out of 1,114 directors for 1,000 films from 2007-2016, only three were black females, the Annenberg Foundation and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism found.
Still, though it appears slow, progress may be in the works. In 2016, no actresses of color took home Golden Globes for any major movie category. This year, however, Viola Davis won best supporting actress for "Fences" at the Golden Globes, and "Moonlight" scored best picture at the Globes and Academy Awards.
The industry may be headed in the right direction, but the work's not over yet.
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