Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has become the highest-grossing film in Warner Bros. history in the US, overtaking Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight.
As reported by Variety, Barbie has crossed $537.5million at the domestic box office to take the record. The Dark Knight previously held the accolade with $536million.
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The fantasy comedy film is on track to surpass The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned $574million, as the highest-grossing film of 2023 in the US.
Barbie also has a chance at becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023 worldwide after hitting $1.2billion globally, behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s $1.35billion.
Since it was released in July, the film has also become the highest-grossing live-action movie solely directed by a woman.
Barbie was recently banned in Algeria three weeks after it was released in the country, on grounds that it “promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances”, joining other countries like Kuwait and Vietnam in blocking the film.
Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, Barbie released on the same day as Nolan’s latest film Oppenheimer, creating the “Barbenheimer” phenomena which boosted the success of both films at the box office.
In a four-star review, NME wrote: “What follows is a nuanced, rose-tinted comedy adventure, set to a stonking pop soundtrack featuring Lizzo and Billie Eilish, that somehow lives up to the immense hype. To borrow a pun from Ken’s coolest jacket (out of a long lineup), Barbie is more than ‘kenough’.”