Every Record Barbie Has Broken (So Far)

It truly has been the summer of "Barbie."

Greta Gerwig's take on the famous doll managed to turn the whole world pink. It's also brought the global box office — hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the siren lure of streaming media, and various economic downturns — into the black. But it's not just a huge financial success; it's become a cultural event, giving audience members a reason to dress up and wear their fanciest pink outfits to screenings. It encouraged "Barbie"-based snacks, meetups, and more, which turned movie theaters into gathering places in a way they hadn't been since the pandemic. And on top of all of that, "Barbie" is a record holder. 

And they aren't just notable moneymaking records. "Barbie" — much like the titular toy, who went into space before man landed on the moon and became an American president decades before Vice President Kamala Harris attained the office — has pioneered a new path for Hollywood. The movie has broken down walls and set records for women in film and the motion picture industry at large. Here's a rundown of all the records "Barbie" has claimed since its July 2023 release.

There's one laurel that will likely decorate "Barbie" for the rest of the calendar year — as of August 24, it is the top-grossing film of 2023 domestically. "Barbie" superseded "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" to attain this high honor; the latter film completed its theatrical run with $574 million domestically. "Barbie" still has a little way to go to take the crown as the top-grossing film of the year at the worldwide box office; "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" raked in $1.4 billion in that department. If "Barbie" claims King Bowser's throne, it will become the 15th highest-grossing film of all time.

Is it possible that "Barbie" might join the $2 billion club before it ends its theatrical run? In late September, "Barbie" will come to IMAX screens, a re-release that'll include new footage, including post-credit scenes excised from its original cut. That gives theatergoers a reason to go back to see the film and increases the odds of "Barbie" grossing $2 billion. Even more importantly, if none of Hollywood's fall or winter releases pack the punch "Barbie" has, it should continue to hold onto its title.

The second most important record "Barbie" has toppled might be the one that has the biggest impact on future Hollywood productions and film directors. It is the highest-grossing film directed by a woman in the domestic market. In terms of movies directed solo by a woman, "Barbie" topped the previous benchmark held by Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman," which grossed $412.8 million in 2017. Greta Gerwig's film also surpassed the $477.3 million domestic gross of "Frozen II," which was co-directed by Jennifer Lee. Along the way, "Barbie" snagged the record for the largest weekend opening ever for a film directed solely by a woman.

"Barbie" is also the first feature film helmed solely by a female director to make $1 billion at the box office. The aforementioned "Frozen II" sits ahead of it worldwide (for now) with $1.4 billion.

It's a record that Warner Bros. Pictures executives declared themselves proud though shocked to attain. "As distribution chiefs, we're not often rendered speechless by a film's performance, but Barbillion has blown even our most optimistic predictions out of the water," Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures, and Andrew Cripps, president of international distribution, declared in a statement. 

When one takes into account the storied history of Warner Bros. Pictures — home of "Casablanca," the "Harry Potter" saga, the "Superman" series, and hundreds of other legendary films — the next sparkly star on the "Barbie" hit list is even more impressive. "Barbie" is officially the most lucrative film Warner Bros. has ever released worldwide. 

It toppled a franchise favorite to reach that goal: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which grossed $1.342 billion during its first run. "Barbie" made $1.340 billion by August 27, putting it well on pace to surpass "Harry Potter" before it bows out of theaters. The extraordinary amount makes "Barbie" more of a blockbuster than dozens of iconic films throughout the studio's 100-plus-year history.

"Barbie" also holds the domestic record as Warner Bros.' best-performing film. It defeated "The Dark Knight" on August 16 for that honor, surpassing the "Batman" film's haul of $534.9 million.

Even days after it opened, "Barbie" broke unusual records. On July 31, it pulled in the second-biggest second-weekend box office ever for a non-franchise film. "Barbie" dipped a little over 50 percent from its first Friday but showed spectacular holdover power, even increasing its daily domestic take on some weekdays. 

What else has helped plump up the "Barbie" box office tallies? The film's unusually strong weekend-to-weekday hold. On the first Monday of its release, "Barbie" broke a record held by "The Dark Knight" since 2008 by having the strongest Monday holdover at the box office. It made $26.1 million on July 24. That amounts to the largest Monday gross ever posted by Warner Bros. in studio history. It also continued to do well throughout the initial week of its release, making $26 million on Tuesday, July 25, and then pulling in $23 million on Wednesday, July 26.

Not only does that denote "Barbie" as a major cultural phenomenon whose sold-out weekend showings pushed consumers to find weeknight screenings to satiate their curiosity — or encouraged consumers to make repeat trips to the theater — each haul was a record breaker for Warner Bros. The studio had their best weekday totals ever thanks to "Barbie" on all three days.

Even better — all of that Barbenheimer hype pepped up the box office internationally and domestically on a monthlong basis, resulting in a July that reached totals unseen since the COVID-19 pandemic. "Barbie" helped bring about the best late July weekend at the box office in history, and it also contributed to the $8.8 million haul for National Cinema Day on August 27. The occasion saw ticket prices lowered to $4.

If you thought "Barbie" was strictly an American phenomenon, you're wrong. The film is also doing blockbuster numbers in Europe. In Ireland, it's officially the country's most profitable film ever, with €8.85 million in grosses as of August 24. That, and the success of "Oppenheimer," resulted in the highest-grossing week at the box office ever for the United Kingdom. "Barbie" alone made £18.5M between July 21 and July 25, with the total gross receipts across all movies playing that week totaling £66,373,575. 

That's not to say the film hasn't faced controversy with international audiences. In China, where "Barbie" has drawn over $30 million, men were seen fleeing theaters. In Japan, the film made over $1 million in its opening weekend despite nationwide controversy surrounding fan-created Barbenheimer imagery featuring pictures of atomic bomb explosions approvingly responded to by the official "Barbie" Twitter. Considering that the film was banned in Algeria, may be banned in Lebanon, and was temporarily banned in Kuwait due to its content, "Barbie" is doing incredibly well around the world.

Not even the above controversies can stop the "Barbie" pink wave. And surely, the film will smash through even more records before finally leaving theaters.