Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
The anticipation in the weeks and months leading up to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film was so real. And as it turns out, all of the smart marketing surrounding the film – from creating a real-life Barbie dream house in Malibu to film lead Margot Robbie’s pitch-perfect Barbie-inspired looks for the press run – has paid off. Literally.
In the two weeks since its release, Barbie has become the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman *ever*.
Photo: Jaap Buitendijk
Until recently, this accolade had been held by Patty Jenkins, who’s 2017 Wonder Woman film grossed $822.8million at the box office worldwide after its release. In contrast, Greta’s Barbie amassed $356million worldwide in its opening weekend alone.
Barbie has now surpassed $900million at the box office, also making it (rightly so) the biggest film debut of the year.
In comparison, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer – which opened the same day as Barbie, leading many to do a double ‘Barbieheimer’ screening – has made $400million at the box office worldwide, less than half of its fuchsia pink counterpart.
Barbie could well be on its way to surpass that coveted billion-dollar mark, but it would still have a way to go before it could be called the highest-grossing film of all time. That currently belongs to James Cameron’s Avatar, which made $2.9billion worldwide after it opened in 2009, followed closely by 2019’s Avengers: Endgame which made $2.7billion and was directed by brothers Joe and Anthony Russo.
Photo: Dale Robinette
The fact that a solo female director (Greta Gerwig) has been able to gross nearly so high with a film that isn’t a superhero movie or a needlessly long alien film shows that original storytelling for women is in hot demand. Hollywood: if you make it, we will consume it. And put your trust in more female directors, they know what they’re doing.
Originally published in Glamourmagazine.co.uk
