Barbie is now the highest domestic grossing Warner Brothers film ever
Another point for Barbie! For those keeping score, Barbie has made more than $1 billion and counting at the worldwide box office, Greta Gerwig has become the highest grossing female director of all time, Margot Robbie is set to make $50 million on the backend, and it brought people back to the movies who hadn’t gone to a theater in years. Barbie has now become the highest domestic grossing Warner Bros film of all time, taking the crown from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Say it with me: She’s Barbie. He’s just Batman.
Sorry, Batman, Barbie is king.
Greta Gerwig’s smash-hit “Barbie” how now surpassed the domestic gross of Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film “The Dark Knight” to become the highest-grossing domestic release in Warner Bros. history with a whopping $537.5 million, besting the Batman sequel’s $536 million.
The Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling-fronted film is also now within reach of the domestic gross of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($574 million) to become the highest-grossing release of 2023.
The film’s worldwide total sits at $1.2 billion and counting, surpassing the $1.1 billion of “Captain Marvel” to solidify “Barbie” as the highest-grossing film directed by a woman ever. Previously, the film had surpassed “Wonder Woman” to become the highest-grossing solo female directorial effort, but “Captain Marvel” saw Anna Boden co-directing with Ryan Fleck.
The massive $162 million opening weekend for “Barbie” marked a career-best for Gerwig, Robbie and Gosling, but thanks to strong reviews and word of mouth, the film’s box office legs have stretched far and wide, making it a true sensation.
The besting of “The Dark Knight” marks another twist in the Barbenheimer competition, as Gerwig and Nolan went head-to-head in July with “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” released on the same weekend, only to see both films come out a smashing success. Nolan’s three-hour, R-rated drama for Universal has grossed $266 million domestically and $650 million worldwide so far.
I love that Barbie keeps setting all of these records, but I really freaking love how full-circle it is that it knocked a different Nolan film out of that spot. He was already salty about Barbie’s release date, so I am sure he is less than thrilled to have been dethroned by it. I’m also sure there were Warner Bros execs popping bubbles at the news too.
But, of course, the real winners in all of Barbie’s success are women and female filmmakers because in Hollywood, it’s all about that money, baby, and moviegoers are clearly making a statement. The more audiences show up for movies like Barbie, the greater the chance that studios will invest in more female filmmakers making more women-centric movies like it.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 09: Director/Writer/EP Greta Gerwig attends the World Premiere of “Barbie” at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on July 09, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.,Image: 788399692, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Greta Gerwig, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon 
Greta Gerwig at the Barbie European Premiere at Cineworld in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom on 12 July 2023.,Image: 788749881, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon 
photos credit: Warner Bros/Avalon, Avalon.red and via Instagram
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