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Aug 31, 2023

'Barbie' Set to Become Warner Bros. Highest Grossing Movie of All Time

'Barbie' is currently the 16th-biggest film in worldwide box office history. Even after more than a month in theaters, Barbie is continuing to break records at the worldwide box office. It passed The

'Barbie' is currently the 16th-biggest film in worldwide box office history.

Even after more than a month in theaters, Barbie is continuing to break records at the worldwide box office. It passed The Super Mario Bros. Movie to become the year’s biggest film domestically some days ago, and is on the verge of repeating the feat globally as well. Super Mario concluded its theatrical run with $574 million at the domestic box office, which Barbie surpassed on Wednesday. The film's running domestic total stands at $594 million, while its international haul is $745 million, which means that with $1.34 billion in the bank globally, Barbie is now just around $18 million shy of Super Mario's worldwide total of $1.358 billion.

The film is in a tight race with the debutante Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story at the box office this weekend, and the final results will become clear only on Monday, once Sunday's wildcard National Cinema Day figures are taken into account. It remains to be seen how deeply the film's impending digital release will impact its theatrical performance in the coming weeks, but considering just how wonderfully it has performed so far, a sudden drop-off would be unexpected. Barbie debuted with a record $162 million in its opening weekend domestically back in July, when it clashed with director Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in what has come to be known as the “Barbenheimer” event — a massively publicized double-bill that has generated over $2 billion in global theatrical revenue.

Barbie went on to gross $93 million in its second weekend, $53 million in its third weekend, $33 million in its fourth weekend, $21 million in its fifth weekend, and an estimated $15 million in its sixth weekend. It topped the weekend box office four times in a row and finished at the number one spot 28 days straight before being dethroned by last week’s debutante, Blue Beetle. During the course of its run, Barbie has broken several box office records, including becoming the biggest film ever to have been directed by a female filmmaker, and is the highest-grossing movie in the history of Warner Bros. at the domestic box office, having overtaken Nolan’s The Dark Knight ($533 million). On Monday, it'll pass Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 to become Warner Bros.' biggest film worldwide.

This is an incredible feat for everybody involved, including Gerwig, who has methodically worked her way up the Hollywood ladder to become a part of the A-list, as well as stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. The movie also features America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, and others. You can watch our interview with Gerwig here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once. Swing and a miss>Measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).