For the past weekend, theatres were decked in pink in the craze of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, a film that tells the story of Mattel’s Barbie and Ken, who are plucked from their Dream House and transposed into the real world. The film, which was estimated to make $165 million for the opening weekend domestically, as per Deadline, made $155 million in the US and Canada, making it the biggest opening for a female director. Worldwide, the film made $337 million in the first three days of its release.
Barbie has also become the film title with the highest domestic opening of 2023, beating The Super Mario Bros’ $146 million. It also dethroned the movie for the largest-grossing day of 2023, with $70.8 million to Mario’s $54.8 million.
Greta Gerwig—who has come ahead of other female directors such as Patty Jenkins, and Lana and Lily Wachowski for the highest opening weekend—has previously directed films such as Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019).
Here’s a list of the highest domestic box office revenue for the opening weekend for films directed by women directors in the Hollywood:
Barbie poster (2023)
Opening weekend revenue: $155 million
Captain Marvel poster (2019)
Opening weekend revenue: $153 million
Frozen II poster (2019)
Opening weekend revenue: $130 million
Wonder Woman 1984 poster
Opening weekend revenue: $103 million
The Matrix Reloaded poster (2003)
Opening weekend revenue: $92 million
Fifty Shades of Grey poster (2015)
Opening weekend revenue: $85 million
Black Widow poster (2021)
Opening weekend revenue: $80 million
Twilight poster (2008)
Opening weekend revenue: $70 million
(The figures are taken from Statista via Box Office Mojo, and are not adjusted for inflation.)
First Published: Jul 26, 2023, 13:47
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