Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' smashes box office records, poised to join billion-dollar club

Greta Gerwig's Barbie film is set to achieve remarkable success, surpassing $700 million in ticket sales worldwide at the box office by the end of Sunday. 

Notably, it has had an extraordinary week for Warner Bros., raking in an impressive $578.5 million, making it the biggest week in the studio's history. With such unprecedented earnings, the movie is now destined to become part of the elite billion-dollar club globally. 

Additionally, it will secure the top position as the highest-grossing movie ever directed by a solo female director, not accounting for inflation.

The combined success of Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer contributed to the fifth-highest earning week in the history of the domestic box office, with an estimated total revenue of around $500 million. 

According to Paul Dergarabedian, the chief box office analyst at Comscore, “Like a perfect game in bowling or a no-hitter in baseball, a $500 million domestic week at the box office is an elusive commodity happening only four times prior in box office history and only once outside of mid- to late-December. And it has never happened in July until now. It is incredible achievement owed in large part to the Barbenheimer craze that has boosted the fortunes of the entire theatrical marketplace.”

The top four-grossing weeks in box office history were previously dominated by movies like Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avatar, as reported by Comscore. 

As Sunday approaches, the question remains as to exactly where Barbie will stand in terms of worldwide earnings. Some analysts speculate that it might even exceed $750 million, securing its position as the third-highest grossing title of 2023, all in just its second weekend. 

Presently, the top-grossing movies of the year are The Super Mario Bros. Movie from Illumination/Universal with $1.34 billion, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 from Marvel/Disney with $844.8 million, and Fast X from Universal with $704.9 million.