Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Makes $1 MILLION – Making History As The First Female-Directed Movie To Do So After It Released Just Three Weeks Ago

Barbie and director Greta Gerwig made history over the weekend, flying over $1 billion in worldwide box office gross, becoming the first film directed exclusively by a woman.

The film, based on the beloved Mattel character and co-written by Gerwig with husband Noah Baumbach, added another $127 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $1.03 billion.

It had already passed second on the list after a record-breaking first few weeks in cinemas, 2017’s Patty Jenkins-directed Wonder Woman, which grossed $821.8 million worldwide.

In the medium’s history, a total of 53 films have entered the billionaire category, with studio representatives coining the phrase “Barbillion” for the latest addition to the list.

While both Frozen movies and Captain Marvel were co-directed by a woman with a man, Barbie becomes the highest-grossing film directed exclusively by a woman.

The Margot Robbie-directed-and-produced film has been comfortably in the top spot for three weeks and is only just finished.

It passed $400 million domestically and $500 million internationally faster than any other film at the studio, including the Harry Potter films.

“As distribution chiefs, it’s not often we’re left speechless by a movie’s performance, but Barbillion has blown even our most optimistic predictions out of the water,” said Jeff Goldstein and Andrew Cripps, who oversee domestic and international distribution for the studio. a joint statement.

‘Barbie’ is now the biggest film directed by a single woman, surpassing ‘Wonder Woman’s’ $821.8 million worldwide. Three films co-directed by women are still ahead of “Barbie,” including “Frozen” ($1.3 billion) and “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion), both co-directed by Jennifer Lee and “Captain Marvel’ ($1.1 billion). , co-directed by Anna Boden.

But “Barbie” has passed “Captain Marvel” domestically with $459.4 million (vs. $426.8 million), claiming the North American record for live-action movies directed by women.

The Wachowskis – both transgender women – Matrix Reloaded made over $700 million at the box office, but was released before both Lana and Lilly Wachowski had transitioned.

Warner Bros. co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy also praised Gerwig in a statement, saying the milestone is “a testament to her brilliance and her commitment to delivering a movie that will bring Barbie fans of all ages to television. want to see’. big screen.’

New competition arrived this weekend in the form of the animated, PG-rated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and the Jason Statham shark sequel, “Meg 2: The Trench,” both of which were neck-and-neck with Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’, also in his third weekend, for second place.

‘Meg 2’ managed to sneak ahead and land in second place. It overcame its abysmal ratings and scored an opening weekend of $30 million from 3,503 venues.

The Warner Bros. release, directed by Ben Wheatley, currently holds a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a B-CinemaScore from the audience. The thriller was released in 3D, accounting for 22% of first weekend sales.

Third place went to Oppenheimer, which added $28.7 million from 3,612 locations in North America, bringing its domestic total to $228.6 million.

In just three weeks, the J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic starring Cillian Murphy has become the top-grossing R-rated movie of the year (ahead of “John Wick Chapter 4”) and the sixth-biggest of the year overall, and surpasses ‘Ant- The Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.’

‘Oppenheimer’ also celebrated a milestone, surpassing $500 million worldwide in three weeks.

Its worldwide gross is currently $552.9 million, placing it ahead of “Dunkirk,” which grossed $527 million in 2017 and has become Nolan’s fifth-biggest film ever.

The film also now ranks among the four highest grossing biographies of all time (including ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘The Passion of the Christ’ and ‘American Sniper’) and the greatest World War II film of all time.

Prior to the film’s release, industry observers were anxious to see how Barbie would fare against Oppenheimer, which bowed on the same weekend.

A playful ‘Barbenheimer’ rivalry erupted and a trend emerged among highly devoted moviegoers to see both films back to back on the same day.

Despite Oppenheimer’s box office win, Barbie managed to sail ahead on their mutual opening weekend.

A new report from CNBC predicted that Barbie will cross the $1 billion mark by next Monday, a milestone for female filmmakers.

Lead analyst Shawn Robbins of BoxOffice.com commented, “Entering the billion-dollar box office club is a turning point for Barbie and Greta Gerwig, as the latter will become the first solo female director to achieve this feat.”

Paramounts ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ ranked fourth with an estimated $28 million from 3,858 theaters in North America.

Since opening on Wednesday, the film, which runs to excellent reviews (96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience ratings, has earned $43.1 million.

“This is one of those movies that brings joy to generations,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution.

“I think the enduring popularity of ‘Turtles’ shows its true colours. And there hasn’t been an animated film in eight weeks and there won’t be another one for the next eight weeks, which is great for us.”

“Turtles” cost $70 million to produce and features a star-studded voice cast including Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Paul Rudd, Ayo Edebiri and Seth Rogen, who produced and co-wrote the film, which leans towards the “teenage” style. aspect of the movie. turtles.

‘Barbie’, ‘Oppenheimer’ and even the surprise anti-trafficking hit ‘Sound of Freedom’ (now at $163.5 million and ahead of ‘Mission: Impossible 7’) have contributed to a box office explosion, making many millions more than expected and helped offset pain caused by some summer disappointments.

“After ‘The Flash’, ‘Indiana Jones’ and to some extent ‘Mission: Impossible’ people said the summer was a disappointment. But it’s not over yet,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. ‘We are facing a summer that will end on a high.’

But the industry’s moment of triumph will likely be short-lived if the studios can’t come to an agreement notable actors and writers coming soon.

The fall release calendar has already gotten slimmer, with some studios pushing movies to 2024 instead of promoting them starless.

Sony planned to release its PlayStation-inspired true story “Gran Turismo” in theaters across the country this Friday, but will now slowly roll it out for two weeks before going wide on August 25. If movie stars can’t promote the movie, maybe audiences can.

“We have to be realistic,” Dergarabedian said. “We are at this emotional peak of films doing so well, but we must temper our enthusiasm and optimism with the fact that the strike is creating a lot of uncertainty.”

The longer it takes, the deeper the problems become. But the public has spoken and they like to go to the cinema.’