‘Barbie’ Becomes Warner Bros.’ Highest-Grossing Domestic Release

Topline

The summer blockbuster hit Barbie reached another milestone Wednesday, becoming Warner Bros.’ highest grossing domestic release, surpassing The Dark Knight, as the star-studded film continues to break box office records in its fourth week in theaters.

‘Barbie’ has earned $537.4 million domestically since its mid July release, according to Warner … [+] Bros.

AP/Chris Pizzello

Key Facts

As of Wednesday, Barbie has earned $537.4 million domestically, the studio said, surpassing the Warner Bros. record previously set by Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight which earned $533.7 million domestically.

The other three films that round out Warner Bros. top five highest grossing domestic releases are The Dark Knight Rises ($448.1 million), Wonder Woman ($412.6) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($381.2 million), the studio said.

What To Watch For

Barbie is expected to become the highest grossing film of the year in the coming days, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The video game-inspired movie earned more than $1.3 billion during its global run in theaters earlier this year, according to Box Office Mojo.

Big Number

$1.19 billion. That’s how much the Greta Gerwig-directed film has grossed internationally since it first opened in mid July, according to Box Office Mojo.

Tangent

The film will be digitally released—available for viewers to see at home—September 5, Variety reported Wednesday.

Key Background

When Barbie opened in theaters in July it captured the biggest opening of the year so far. Since then, it’s taken the top box office spot each weekend. Earlier this month, Gerwig earned the title of highest-grossing female director of all time at the domestic box office after surpassing Frozen II, which earned $477.1 million and was directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck. Barbie tells the live-action story of Mattel dolls Barbie and Ken. With an all-star cast—Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, America Ferrera and Dua Lipa—and a pop soundtrack produced by Mark Ronson, the film’s release was long awaited by many. Its summer premiere, which coincided with Nolan’s Oppenheimer, created somewhat of a phenomenon of moviegoers seeing both films in a double feature.