Barbie Crushed One Dark Knight Record - Can It Beat Batman's Biggest Movie Feat?

"Barbie" might just have more box office clout than "The Dark Knight." 

Greta Gerwig has made box office history with "Barbie" multiple times over. Thanks to its opening weekend gross of $162 million, "Barbie" boasted the largest debut from a female director. And just a few weeks later, the film crossed the $1 billion mark, making Gerwig the highest-grossing female director of all-time. As it stands, "Barbie" is the second-highest grossing film of the year, just behind "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." However, Margot Robbie's debut as Barbie shows no signs of stopping, as the "Barbenheimer" mania is compelling audiences to return to cinemas for multiple viewings. 

Just ahead of its fourth weekend at the domestic box office, "Barbie" stands tall with a total of shy of $500 million, making it the highest-grossing film of the summer ("Mario" debuted in April) by a wide margin. The Margot Robbie-led film is a true phenomenon at the box office, proving that viewers from all walks of life are willing to show up to projects that cater to female-identifying audience members. Beyond that, in a theatrical landscape crowded with superhero films, remakes, and sequels, "Barbie" stands out the rare original film that just happens to be based on an IP. 

For Warner Bros., "Barbie" is an absolute boon — a genuine gift that keeps on giving. "Barbie" has already defeated the studio's crown jewel "The Dark Knight" in one way — the doll flick had a higher Monday gross than the Batman film, breaking a key record for the studio. Now, if all goes well for "Barbie," the film could have another major box office record on its hand. With a domestic total close to $500 million, "Barbie" is on track to dethrone "The Dark Knight" as Warner Bros.' highest-grossing domestic film of all time. 

With "Barbie" crossing the $486 million mark, it has officially entered the top 20 domestic films of all time, pushing PIxar's "Finding Dory" out of the list. During its fourth weekend, "Barbie" is expected to casually push past the $500 million mark, putting it on track to outpace the 2017 live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast," which boasts a gross north of $504 million. Seeing as the top 20 is mostly dominate with grosses over $500 million, it seems exceptionally unlikely that "Barbie" will depart from the prestigious list anytime soon. 

The bottom half of the top 20 is mostly populated with films who reached the lofty list during the middle of their run, when things were beginning to slow down. Take "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" for example, which hit a domestic gross of over $480 million during its fourth weekend, thanks to a $15 million weekend. It eventually cratered off due to a sizeable drop off, only hitting $500 million during its sixth weekend. 

"Barbie," however, shows no signs of slowing down. In its third weekend, the Greta Gerwig film boasted a healthy $53 million total, dropping just over 40% from its sophomore weekend. Compare that to "Finding Dory," which boasted a similar drop, but only a third weekend gross of $41 million back in 2016, and it's clear that "Barbie" has a long way to go before it wraps up its domestic run. The momentum that Warner Bros. needs is there, and it's all but guranteed that "Barbie" will find a healthy spot to rest at in the top 15, outgrossing Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," "The Rise of Skywalker," "Rogue One," and maybe even 2019's "The Lion King," which has a total of $543 million. 

While "Barbie" is definitely giving Disney a run for its money — the studio occupies 11 out of 20 spots in the top 20 (13 if we count 20th Century's "Avatar" films) — it's also on track to break another record for Warner Bros. The studio's highest-grossing domestic film of all time is "The Dark Knight," with a total of $533 million. After a debut of $158 million back in 2008, the film continued to dominate cinemas, eventually breaking the $500 million barrier in seventh weekend thanks to a $8.6 million haul. The film eventually lost its remaining chunk of theatres in 12th weekend, which is when its weekend totals became less than $1 million. At that point, the film had $525 million to its name, eventually legging its way to $533 million. 

It's a matter of when, not if, "Barbie" outgrosses the Batman flick, taking the crown as Warner Bros.' highest-grossing domestic film. "Barbie" doesn't have a particularly long way to go and should outgross "The Dark Knight" by its fifth weekend. The real question is: how far can "Barbie" go domestically? With half a billion dollars under its belt, "Barbie" has a lot more to prove at the box office. 

Note how Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie's latest is boasting impeccable holds, which means that audiences are continuing to show up weekend after weekend. Box office analyst Luiz Fernando says the film has what it takes to gross over $660 million domestically, a number that would have it penetrating the domestic top 10. When one looks at the consistent weekday holds ("Barbie" still has $5 million+ day-to-day business), it's all but guranteed that Warner Bros.' highest-grossing domestic film will no longer be "The Dark Knight" come next week. 

"Barbie" already has what it takes to become Warner Bros.' highest-grossing film stateside, but what about worldwide? It's already the studio's fourth highest-grossing film of all time thanks its $1 billion+ total. Next up on the list, at number three, is 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises," which wrapped up Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. The Batman threequel stands tall with a global gross of $1.08 billion, thanks to an international showing of $634 million. While "Barbie" has a while to go before it can reach the foreign total of "The Dark Knight Rises," it could outgross the third Batman film as early as this weekend, making it the third highest-grossing film of all time for Warner Bros. 

Can "Barbie" become the studio's highest-grossing film of all time? It's a difficult road ahead but one definitely worth examining. The American studio's top grosser is 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II," which has a worldwide total of $1.3 billion. Considering the second "Deathly Hallows" film wrapped up the beloved "Harry Potter" franchise, it makes sense that it's Warner Bros.' number one flick, but it's possible that "Barbie" could take the number one spot. After all, Greta Gerwig's film is less than $300 million away. While that may appear to be a considerable difference, "Barbie" is eyeing a domestic total of over $600 million, a number that would push it at $1.1 billion worldwide. Internationally, "Barbie" is still pulling ahead thanks to markets like the United Kingdom and Mexico. 

Sure, it's not receiving the same acclaim in Asian markets like South Korea, but its international story is far from over. With consistent legs and repeat viewings, "Barbie" could defeat "Harry Potter" — making history for Warner Bros.