With ‘Barbie,’ Greta Gerwig breaks a box office record for female directors

abcnews.go.com:

“Barbie” didn’t just break the opening weekend record for 2023; It also shattered the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman

“Barbie” didn’t just break the opening weekend record for 2023; It also shattered the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman.

With $162 million in ticket sales from North American theaters, according to studio totals Monday, “Barbie” catapulted past both “Captain Marvel,” which was co-directed by Anna Boden and opened to $153.4 million in 2019, and “Wonder Woman,” Patty Jenkins ’ 2017 film that debuted to $103.3 million. Boasting a reported price tag of $145 million, “Barbie” also cost less to produce than “Captain Marvel” ($152 million) and “Wonder Woman” ($200 million).

Globally, it also far surpassed “Wonder Woman’s” debut with over $337 million versus $228.3 million, though “Captain Marvel’s” global launch was higher at $455 million.

“Barbie’s” debut, $7 million higher than estimated on Sunday, is also significant because its audience was 65% women — not a surprise in and of itself, but as far as box office history is concerned, movies that open over $100 million often have a majority male audience (including both “Captain Marvel” and “Wonder Woman”). This, many have noted, is perhaps less a rule and more of a lack of big films that have been made and promoted with a blockbuster female audience in minds.

A close, but imperfect comparison is “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which was directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, and made $85 million in its first three days. The R-rated adaptation opened on Presidents Day weekend for a five-day haul of $93 million.

Gerwig co-wrote and directed “Barbie” which is intended to be the first of many Mattel-inspired spinoffs. And in just one weekend