Barbie Is Now Warner Bros.' Biggest Movie Ever At The Global Box Office
It's official: "Barbie" is now the biggest movie that Warner Bros. has ever released. Unadjusted for inflation, director Greta Gerwig's cinematic interpretation of Mattel's famed doll is now the studio's highest-grossing movie at the global box office. In the studio's storied 100-year history, no film has made more money from ticket sales around the world, and that is an undoubtedly impressive feat when we look at the movies "Barbie" had to overtake to secure this record.
"Barbie" added another $17.1 million to its ever-growing domestic total over the weekend, in no small part thanks to National Cinema Day. More importantly, with another healthy showing internationally in its sixth weekend, the film has now earned $1.34 billion worldwide, per The Numbers. That puts it above the lifetime gross of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" ($1.315 billion) to become WB's biggest movie ever at the box office. It now sits at number 16 on the all-time chart, just behind this year's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" ($1.358 billion).
What other movies exist above "Barbie" in box office history? It's a relatively small list: "Avengers: Age of Ultron" ($1.395 billion), "Frozen II" ($1.453 billion), "Top Gun: Maverick" ($1.477 billion), "Furious 7" ($1.511 billion), "The Avengers: ($1.515 billion), "The Lion King" ($1.647 billion), "Jurassic World" ($1.669 billion), "Spider-Man: No Way Home" ($1.91 billion), "Avengers: Infinity War" ($2.04 billion), "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($2.06 billion), "Titanic" ($2.22 billion), "Avatar: The Way of Water" ($2.31 billion), "Avengers: Endgame" ($2.789 billion), and "Avatar" ($2.923 billion).
Crucially, none of those movies were released by Warner Bros. So in that studio's incredible history, "Barbie" now occupies a very important place.
Barbie is coming for you, Mario
As far as 2023 goes, Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig aren't done yet. "Barbie" only needs another $19 million or so (give or take) to overtake "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" as the highest-grossing movie of the year. It has already surpassed "Mario" domestically, but now it's just about securing that worldwide total. The way things have been going, it's absolutely a matter of when and not if.
That will be the final punctuation mark on what has been one of the most unexpectedly remarkable runs at the box office in recent memory, perhaps rivaled only by "Top Gun: Maverick." Not that anyone was expecting a movie based on storied IP starring Robbie would bomb or anything, but the fact that it has taken off in a way only a select few movies ever have is exceptional. Heck, we're talking about a movie that made more than "The Dark Knight" in North America. That's no small thing.
Once the strikes finally get settled, expect WB to lock Gerwig and Robbie down for at least one sequel, if not more. It's Barbie's world, and we're just living in it.
"Barbie" is in theaters now.