‘Barbie’ Surpasses $1 Billion Globally

“Barbie” is saying “hiya” to the billion-dollar club.

Greta Gerwig’s pink-coated fantasy comedy has surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, including $459 million in North America and $572 million internationally. It’s the first film solely directed by a woman, which makes Gerwig the first-ever solo female filmmaker with a billion-dollar film.

Three other billion-dollar blockbusters were co-directed by women, including “Frozen” ($1.3 billion) and “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion) both co-directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, as well as “Captain Marvel” ($1.1 billion), co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.

No movie in Warner Bros.’ 100-year history has sold so many tickets so fast, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein told the New York Times.

“I’ve been in this game for 30 years and the Barbie and Barbenheimer phenomenon is as unprecedented as it was unpredictable,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

“Barbie” was distributed by Warner Bros., which is owned by CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.

Its global success was driven by box office sales in some of the world’s largest movie markets, including the United Kingdom, Mexico and Australia. The movie has been the No. 1 release in these markets every weekend since its release, according to tracking site Box Office Mojo.

“Driving that discourse is the film’s embrace of what generations of women have both loved and hated about the brand and what it’s often represented in the past,” said BoxOffice Pro chief analyst Shawn Robbins, adding that the movie “has tapped into cultural conversations about gender roles and female empowerment that aren’t bound by international borders.”