‘Barbie’ smashes the one-billion mark at the box office

It’s one thing for one of the most-anticipated movies of the year to live up to the hype and another for it to smash all expectations out of the park. It was a spectacular Sunday for everyone associated with Barbie as the film crossed the $1 billion mark (approx. ₹8,200 crore) at the global box office. This also makes director Greta Gerwig become the first solo female director with a billion-dollar film. This has seen her triumph over the previous record set by Patty Jenkins, the creator of the 2017 film Wonder Woman, which had raked in $822.8 million (approx. ₹6,800 crore) at the global box office.

Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the movie hasn't just been making waves in the USA having grossed $459 million (approx. ₹3,700 billion) but across the world as well having raked in $572 (approx. ₹4,700 crore) in foreign markets as per figures from Warner Bros. Discovery.

A prime reason for the boom has been the ‘Barbieheimer’ trend that saw the film be neck and neck with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Barbie had a fantastic opening weekend—the largest for a female director—as it made $356 million globally (approx. ₹3,000 crore). At 17 days, as of Sunday, the film also holds record for being the fastest to break the $1 billion mark beating the previous record set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 which took 19 days to hit the figure. 

The Warner Bros. Pictures movie is also now the second biggest release of the year, only behind Nintendo’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which has grossed a whopping $1.35 billion (approx. ₹11,100 crore) worldwide since its release in April, including more than $574 million (approx. ₹4,700 crore) in the U.S. Furthermore, it’s the sixth film of the pandemic-era to cross $1 billion, following Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World Dominion and Avatar: The Way of Water.

“A massive achievement like this is possible when you have an incredible filmmaking team, where the cast and crew come together to create a truly special movie-going experience,” Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, said in a statement. “Greta now joins an elite group of writer-directors whose singular vision has generated $1 billion at the global box office, a milestone that is a testament to her brilliance and to her commitment to deliver a movie that Barbie fans of every age want to see on the big screen.”