Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ Has Broken A Couple More Box Office Records Less Than A Month Into Its Release

Barbie has been in most theaters around the world for less than a month, but it’s already made beyond bank. In the last week the movie that triggered Ben Shapiro has broken not one but two box office records for its director/co-writer Greta Gerwig, with plenty of money gobbling left to go.

As per Deadline, last Tuesday Barbie passed a big milestone: It outgrossed Frozen II, which four years ago Hoovered up $477.4 million, at the North American box office. Why is that such an accomplishment (beyond it being a ton of money, that is) Because Frozen II was co-directed by a woman, Jennifer Lee. And because before Barbie came around, Frozen II was the highest-ever-grossing film on the continent. In other words, Barbie is now the highest grossing film ever directed by a woman in America and Canada.

What it isn’t, at least not yet, is the highest grossing film ever directed by a woman globally. That honor still goes to Frozen II, which made $1.4 billion worldwide back in 2019 and 2020. That said, Barbie still managed to break another record: This weekend, it sailed past Captain Marvel’s $1.3 billion, which was co-directed by Anna Boden, and which was the highest grossing live-action movie with a female director credit.

In summary, Barbie — which added another $33 million to its North American total, crossing the $500 million mark, and which is encouraging those living in nation’s that have banned it to do some traveling — is now the highest grossing film ever directed by a woman domestically and the highest-grossing live-action film ever directed by a woman globally. So congrats to Greta Gerwig and take that, Ted Cruz.