Barbie Officially Ends The Dark Knight's Domestic Box Office Reign
Wanna see a magic trick? "Barbie" just made a "Dark Knight" domestic box office record disappear.
The domestic box office earnings for "Barbie" have officially surpassed $537.5 million, Deadline reports, making it the most lucrative U.S. release in Warner Bros.' 100-year history. That honor was previously held by Christopher Nolan's 2008 superhero film "The Dark Knight," which netted $534.9 million.
It is the latest of several record-smashing feats for Greta Gerwig's ode to the world's most recognizable doll. Following its $162 million opening weekend, "Barbie" became the highest-earning debut from a female director. Previously, "Barbie" surpassed "Frozen II" ($477.4 million) on the all-time domestic charts, making Gerwig the highest-grossing female director in the U.S. (besting Jennifer Lee). While "Barbie" ($1.2 billion) has yet to beat "Frozen II" ($1.4 billion) globally, Gerwig is the highest-grossing live-action director worldwide, topping "Captain Marvel" co-director Anna Boden ($1.13 billion).
The record-breaking "Barbie" box office is all the more newsworthy given the film's inextricable link to Christopher Nolan.
Barbie is coming for Mario next
With the Barbenheimer phenomenon, two films with virtually nothing in common — "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" — became unexpectedly dovetailed, from everything to memes to double feature scheduling to dual box office hits. Still, Christopher Nolan's intense biopic of the so-called father of the atomic bomb continues to nip at the heels of "Barbie," even if its own $650 million global box office haul is nothing to sneeze at. With "Barbie" topping "The Dark Knight" at the domestic box office, more Gerwig and Nolan comparisons are inevitable, even if their respective financial successes are excellent for moviegoers as a whole, according to Nolan. As one Twitter user quipped, "Pls not Greta Gerwig whacking Christopher Nolan twice."
And the reign of "Barbie" is far from over. The film is still filling seats across the country, meaning it could still beat Universal's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which netted $574 million domestically and $1.35 billion globally.
"Barbie" may sit atop the dog pile for Warner Bros' domestic box office, but the worldwide rankings tell a different story. "Barbie" is second only to 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which made over $1.3 billion globally.