‘Barbie’ Has Raked in Over $800 Million, Making It the Highest-Grossing Film by a Female Director
It’s Barbie’s world, we’re all just living in it.
Greta Gerwig’s hit flick is setting records left and right, even though it’s only been in theaters for a mere two weeks. So far, it’s brought in more than $800 million globally, making it the highest-grossing film directed by a woman, Hypebeast reported on Thursday. It beat out Patty Jenkins’s 2017 Wonder Woman to nab that title.
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The movie, which stars Margot Robbie as the titular character and Ryan Gosling as Ken, had a pretty impressive opening weekend, too. It racked up $356 million globally when it first came out, making it the highest-grossing opening weekend for a female director and the biggest opening of 2023 so far. It surpassed titles like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, meaning that it also became the best opening for a non-sequel, Hypebeast noted.
While most movies would be happy enough with all of those achievements, Barbie has added even more to its litany of honors. It had the biggest opening for a film based on a toy, and for a movie without IMAX. Warner Bros., the studio that created Barbie, is reaping the benefits too: The movie gave the company its biggest opening week in its history. Really, what can’t Barbie do?
The movie’s influence has clearly been good for the struggling film industry, which has had trouble getting people back into theaters since the pandemic began. And while it won’t fix everything that ails the business, it is a big boost to theater and studio revenue. Plus, the Barbie effect is helping out other industries, too: Interest in pink Chevrolet Corvettes has jumped thanks to the car that Robbie’s character drives in the film. And Airbnb was offering stays in a real-life Barbie Malibu DreamHouse.
Given the “Barbenheimer” trend, it seems likely that some Barbie fans are also grabbing tickets to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, as they put together their own double feature. In a show of Barbie’s dominance, though, Oppenheimer has made only about half what Gerwig’s film has brought in. Barbie may have started out as just a doll, but she’s proving that she’s so much more than that.
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