With ‘Barbie,’ Greta Gerwig Breaks A Box Office Record For Female Directors ($162 million)

Not only did “Barbie” smash the first-weekend record for 2023, but it also did so for the first weekend of a female-directed movie.

According to studio totals released on Monday, “Barbie” surpassed both Patty Jenkins’ 2017 blockbuster “Wonder Woman,” which launched at $103.3 million, and “Captain Marvel,” which was co-directed by Anna Boden and debuted at $153.4 million in 2019. “Barbie” reportedly cost $145 million to make, which is less than “Captain Marvel” ($152 million) and “Wonder Woman” ($200 million).

Globally, it outperformed “Wonder Woman’s” opening with nearly $337 million compared to $228.3 million, while “Captain Marvel’s” $455 million global debut was greater.

It’s not a surprise in and of itself, but historically speaking, movies that open over $100 million frequently have a majority male audience (including both “Captain Marvel” and “Wonder Woman”), making “Barbie’s” debut $7 million higher than estimated on Sunday, significant. Many have commented that this may not be a norm as it results from a shortage of major motion pictures created and advertised with a blockbuster female audience in mind.

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and earned $85 million in its first three days, provides a reasonable but not perfect analogy. The R-rated adaption debuted over Presidents Day weekend in 2017 and made $93 million in its first five days.

Not only did “Barbie” smash the first-weekend record for 2023, but it also did so for the first weekend of a female-directed movie.

In terms of July debuts, “Barbie” surpassed Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises” (without accounting for inflation) and came in third place, just behind the live-action versions of “The Lion King” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

The first of several Mattel-inspired spinoffs, “Barbie” was co-written and directed by Gerwig. And in only one weekend, it has already outperformed the domestic gross of her last two films, “Lady Bird,” with $49 million, and “Little Women,” with $108.1 million. Gerwig 2 made history in 2018 by becoming the fifth woman to receive an Oscar nomination for best director (for “Lady Bird”).

Seven women have been nominated for best director as of 2023, and some are already predicting that Greta Gerwig will receive another nomination at the award show the following year.

The triumph of “Barbie” and Gerwig was warmly celebrated online, and many people in Hollywood stopped to take it all in. While Ry Russo-Young, the director, noted that “‘Barbie’ and its success looms as a beacon of hope” among the strikes and massively shut-down productions, Reese Witherspoon remarked on Instagram, “way to go, GG!”

“It’s wildly original, feminist, giant in scope and swing, and feels singular to a perspective,” wrote Russo-Young. These are uncommon traits for major motion pictures today. In the upcoming years, I want to see more similar creations.

SOURCE – (AP)