Cover Greta Gerwig co-wrote the screenplay for ‘Barbie’ with her partner Noah Baumbach (Photo: AFP)
Greta Gerwig co-wrote the screenplay for ‘Barbie’ with her partner Noah Baumbach (Photo: AFP)
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The pink-tastic movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has also benefited from the simultaneous release of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ and the ‘Barbenheimer’ craze
It’s a record-breaker! Released July 21 in the US, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie as the iconic doll and Ryan Gosling as Ken, scored the biggest opening weekend of all time for a movie directed by a woman, grossing some US$162 million (around HK$1.3 billion), according to data from Box Office Mojo.
Greta Gerwig rose to prominence with her Lady Bird (2017) movie, starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, which earned the director Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture in 2018, but above all for Best Director, the first women to be nominated for the award in eight years.
With this new record, the Little Women (2019) director succeeds Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who held the top spot in this ranking with Captain Marvel (2019), starring Brie Larson. Released in 2019, the superheroine movie grossed US$153 million (more than HK$1 billion) in its first weekend in theatres. Previously, Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman (2020), starring Gal Gadot, had topped the podium for a movie directed solely by a woman.
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However, the movie’s success is still a long way behind the films that scored the best opening weekends of all time at the US box office. Avengers: Endgame (2019), directed by the Russo brothers, retained its crown with grosses over US$357 million (around HK$ 2.8 billion), ahead of two other superhero films: Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) (US$260 million or around HK$ 2 billion) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), again directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (US$258 million or around HK$ 2 billion).
In addition to its record-breaking status, Barbie has benefited from the “Barbenheimer” craze, with the simultaneous release of Christopher Nolan’s latest film, Oppenheimer (2023). The two feature films boosted movie ticket sales in the US. Together, they achieved the best box-office weekend since the pandemic, and the fourth-best opening weekend of all time in the US.
Ranking of movies directed by women that scored the biggest opening weekends at the North American box office:
- Barbie (2023) by Greta Gerwig - US$162 million or around HK$1.3 billion
- Captain Marvel (2019) by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck - US$153 million or around HK$1.2 billion
- Frozen II (2019) by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck - US$130 million or around HK$1 billion
- Wonder Woman (2020) by Patty Jenkins - US$103 million or around HK$803 million
- Matrix Reloaded (2003) by Lana and Lilly Wachowski - US$92 million or around HK$717 million
- Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) by Sam Taylor-Johnson - US$85 million or around HK$663 million
- Black Widow (2021) by Cate Shortland - US$80 million or around HK$624 million
- Twilight (2008) by Catherine Hardwicke - US$70 million or around HK$545 million
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