Greta Gerwig achieved something pretty great in showbiz this weekend — she’s now the sole female director to have crossed the billion-dollar line … and it’s because of ‘Barbie.’
Indeed … the inevitable happened Sunday, with ‘Barbie’ raking in over a $1 billion at the worldwide box office and once again taking the top spot here domestically. That’s 3 weeks in a row that the flick has dominated, and at this point … there’s no sign of it slowing down.
Now, as for Greta … like we said, she stands alone (as a woman) in this billion-dollar club — which is a historical feat, and something that hasn’t been done before ‘Barbie’ came along.
Yes, there are other female directors who are technically in that 10-figure category — including Jennifer Lee and Anna Boden, who co-directed the ‘Frozen’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ movies, respectively, alongside men — but GG’s in a league of her own now as a standalone.
There’s a very large gap between Greta and the other solo female directors with box office hits — #2 on the list is Patty Jenkins’ ‘Wonder Woman,’ which made around $412 mil through its run. There’s an even bigger drop-off with the next tier of films/directors … Betty Thomas’ ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ ($219M); Catherine Hardwicke’s ‘Twilight’ ($192M); Elizabeth Banks’ ‘Pitch Perfect 2’ ($184M); Cate Shortland’s ‘Black Widow’ ($183M) … and so on.
With Greta’s milestone here … it proves that women are pretty damn bankable, not just as actresses — but behind the camera as well. Full circle, really, for the themes of ‘Barbie.’
Considering her indie background, you could argue Greta’s has had a meteoric rise over the past 5-6 years. And like we previously reported, there’s currently no active plans for a sequel at this point — which, if you know studios, is unheard of when this sorta success is had.
There’s a report saying WB actually tried brokering a deal for Greta to direct ‘Barbie 2’ months before the film came out — but her agents shot that down and insisted on waiting to see how it actually performed. Smart move in hindsight … Greta can fetch a fortune now.
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BTW … Greta actually turned 40 a couple days ago, and Ryan Gosling surprised her with a flash mob performance full of Kens, complete with his signature song from the movie.
Perfect way to celebrate … congrats!
