Greta Gerwig has become the first female director to helm a film that has surpassed $US1 billion in global ticket sales. It’s been three weeks since her world-wide phenomenon Barbie hit cinemas, earning more than $US1.03 billion worldwide as of Sunday, according to Box Office Mojo.
Gerwig’s film has surpassed the previous record holder for women directors, which was held by Patty Jenkins for her 2017 film “Wonder Woman”. That film made more roughly $US821.8 million worldwide.
Gerwig’s film joins just 53 movies in Hollywood history that have made over $1 billion (excluding inflation). The top three grossing films are Avatar (2009), Avengers Endgame (2019) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).
Women have co-directed films that have surpassed the $1 billion mark — Jennifer Lee co-directed Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019), making $1.3 billion and $1.45 billion respectively.
Anna Boden co-directed Captain Marvel (2019) which earned $1.1 billion in total global sales. Boden’s film held the previous record for highest grossing live-action movie directed by a woman in North America ($426.8 million). Barbie has exceeded that amount domestically, earning $459.4 million so far.
The film, which was produced by LuckyChap Entertainment — the production company founded by Margot Robbie and her husband, Tom Ackerley, has been the highest grossing film for the third consecutive week since its release.
Over the weekend, it made another $US53 million from over 4,000 North American locations, according to the latest studio estimates.
When it was released last month, it had the biggest opening weekend for a women director ever, and the biggest opening weekend of any film this year.