The Greta Gerwig film has beaten Christopher Nolan’s 2008 superhero flick to become the studio’s biggest money-maker at North American box offices
Barbie has officially become Warner Bros. Pictures’ highest-grossing domestic release of all time.
Less than a month after it opened in theaters, the Greta Gerwig-directed comedy has raked in $537.5 million at the North American box office, unseating The Dark Knight to become the studio’s biggest domestic theatrical money-maker ever, Variety reports.
The 2008 Christopher Nolan film made waves upon its release, particularly for Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award.
The Dark Knight made $533.3 million total in domestic ticket sales and $1.003 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo — but Barbie also has it beat in that regard, sitting at a global total of $1.19 billion thus far.
The latter film is still trailing behind Warner Bros.’ top-earning movie of all time: 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which made $1.34 billion worldwide.
Barbie has enjoyed massive financial success, having crossed $1 billion at the global box office just over two weeks after its July 21 release.
Gerwig, 40, has also become the highest-grossing female director of a live-action movie at the global box office, per The Hollywood Reporter. Barbie’s sales topped those of 2019’s Captain Marvel, which was co-directed by Anna Boden.
Margot Robbie produced Barbie with her company LuckyChap Entertainment, which previously produced Birds of Prey and the Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman.
The actress, 33, is expected to earn $50 million in a deal combining her salary and back-end box-office bonuses, per Variety, which cited multiple sources. Robbie’s husband, Tom Ackerley, is also a producer on the film, as well as David Heyman and Mattel Films Executive Producer Robbie Brenner.
Notably, Barbie faced off in theaters against Oppenheimer — which, like the Dark Knight trilogy, was also directed by Nolan, 53.
And ahead of the films’ same-day release, the biopic’s star Cillian Murphy, who plays the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer, said he was “100%” going to see Barbie when it hit theaters.
“I can’t wait to see it,” Murphy, 47, said in an interview with IGN. “I think it’s just great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out on the same day.”
He added, “Yeah, you can spend the whole day in the cinema — what’s better than that?”
Barbie is in theaters now.
