Billion-dollar Barbie: Blockbuster movie tops $1B at box office, studio says

For the third consecutive week, “Barbie” topped the box office, placing Greta Gerwig in rarified company -- sole directing credit for a billion-dollar movie.

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Barbie will finish the weekend with more than $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide, according to Warner Bros. It will make Gerwig the 29th person -- and first woman -- to direct a billion-dollar movie, The New York Times reported.

The movie about the world’s favorite doll romped past newcomers “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and “Meg 2: The Trench,” according to Variety.

According to Jeff Goldstein, president of Warner Bros. domestic distribution, no movie in the studio’s 100-year history had sold so many tickets so quickly, the Times reported. “Barbie” has been in theaters for 17 days. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ reached $1 billion in 19 days, according to the newspaper.

“Barbie” added $53 million in its third weekend and has generated $459.4 million in North American theaters, Variety reported.

“PINK FEVER,” Goldstein wrote in a text message to the Times.

“Barbie” is now the second biggest release of 2023, behind “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” Forbes reported. The Nintendo movie has grossed $1.35 billion worldwide since it opened in April, including a $574 million domestic total, according to the magazine.

Gerwig has directed “Little Women” in 2019 and “Lady Bird” in 2017, according to the Times. She has been nominated for three Academy Awards, according to the newspaper.

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