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 (RM737 million), according to data from Box Office Mojo.
Greta Gerwig rose to prominence with her “Lady Bird” film, 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” director succeeds Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who held the top spot in this ranking with “Captain Marvel” starring Brie Larson. Released in 2019, the superheroine movie grossed US$153 million in its first weekend in cinemas.
Previously, Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman”, starring Gal Gadot, had topped the podium for a movie directed solely by a woman (US$103 million).
Nevertheless, 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,” directed by the Russo brothers, retained its crown with grosses over US$357 million, ahead of two other superhero films: Jon Watts’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (US$260 million) and “Avengers: Infinity War,” again directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (US$258 million).
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”. The two feature films boosted movie ticket sales in the US and, combined, they achieved the best box-office weekend since the pandemic, and the fourth-best opening weekend of all time in the US.
Here is the ranking of movies directed by women that scored the biggest opening weekends at the North American box office:
- “Barbie” by Greta Gerwig – US$155 million
- “Captain Marvel” by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck – US$153 million
- “Frozen II” by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck – US$130 million
- “Wonder Woman” by Patty Jenkins – US$103 million
- “Matrix Reloaded” by Lana and Lilly Wachowski – US$92 million
- “Fifty Shades of Grey” by Sam Taylor-Johnson – US$85 million
- “Black Widow” by Cate Shortland – US$80 million
- “Twilight” by Catherine Hardwicke – US$70 million