NZ Herald, 28 August 2023 10:01PM
It’s a Barbie world and we’re just living in it.
The Greta Gerwig-directed film has been a huge success with moviegoers around the world bringing in over US$1 billion ($1.69b) at the global box office. Now, it has reached a new milestone.
Becoming Warner Bros’ highest-grossing film of all time, the Margot Robbie-fronted film which was released only last month has officially overtaken 2011′s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Reaching $1.342b in sales already - which is what the Harry Potter film made in its entire cinema run - the film is expected to climb even higher, as it has yet another month in theatres, according to news.com.au.
If the film continues to generate an income as steady as weeks past, it could have an opportunity of overtaking other top-grossing films including the Marvel superhero movie Black Panther, which made $1.349b.
While it’s unknown where exactly Gerwig’s film could end up on the top-grossing films of all time list, it could end up in the top 10 but it would have to take over the likes of Super Mario Bros. Movie ($US1.359b - $2.3b), Frozen II ($US1.453b - $2.46b) and, Top Gun: Maverick, which made $US1.495b ($2.53b), first.
It comes after the film’s front runner, Robbie’s salary was revealed. Portraying the famous Mattel doll and helping produce the movie, Robbie reportedly made an up-front sum of about US$12 million ($20m).
However, according to Variety, that pay cheque will boost to roughly US$50m ($84m) on the back of lucrative box-office bonuses.
Robbie, originally from the Gold Coast, was pivotal in bringing the Barbie flick to life, with her production company LuckyChap Entertainment purchasing the rights from Mattel in 2018.
Later on, she pitched the movie to Warner Bros and managed to bring Gerwig on board to write and direct.
Reflecting on her dedication to making the film happen, Robbie recently revealed she was “overselling” the idea in early meetings with executives.
“I think my pitch in the green-light meeting was the studios have prospered so much when they’re brave enough to pair a big idea with a visionary director,” Robbie told Collider in July.
She added: “And then I gave a series of examples like, ‘dinosaurs and [Steven] Spielberg’ - pretty much naming anything that’s been incredible and made a ton of money for the studios over the years.
“And I was like, ‘And now you’ve got Barbie and Greta Gerwig.’ And I think I told them that it’d make a billion dollars, which maybe I was overselling, but we had a movie to make, OK?”
Robbie, who founded LuckyChap Entertainment in 2014 with husband Tom Acklerley, shot to fame in Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill.