Barbie Director Greta Gerwig Breaks Silence on the Film’s Massive Box Office Success

Barbie opened in theaters last week and to say the film has been a success at the box office would be a little bit of an understatement. The film has exceeded all box office expectations, earning $162 million domestically in its opening weekend and bringing in $182 million internationally for a massive $344 overall take to date. The film’s success makes director Greta Gerwig just the second woman to direct a film making more than $100 million in its opening weekend at the box office and now, Gerwig is opening up about Barbie‘s massive success and she says it’s all “mind-boggling”.

“Honestly, I’m experiencing everything in real time and it is sort of mind-boggling. But it’s incredible because I’m also in New York City and yesterday I started jumping around to theaters and turning up the volume at different show times,” Gerwig told Uproxx. “I was like, “I think we can add a DB. Let’s just keep going.’ But yeah, I mean, it’s amazing. Obviously, I’m here in new York City, but I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s everywhere.’ How fabulous and strange.”

While it may be fabulous and strange for Gerwig, it’s a huge win for movies. Between Barbie and Oppenheimer, which also opened this past weekend, the box office had its fourth-largest weekend of all time in North America and its largest of the pandemic era.

Gerwig Made Surprise Appearances at Barbie Screenings

This weekend, one Barbie-watching crowd at Alamo Drafthouse in New York City were surprised by a visit from Gerwig herself. The theater shared photos of the visit to their Instagram, showing the director in front of an excited, pink-filled theater crowd.

“Last night we invited our pal Greta Gerwig to surprise the crowd at a sold out showing of BARBIE and minds were blown! There were cheers. There were tears. There was lots and lots of pink. Thanks to GG, the entire @barbiethemovie team and every single person who showed up and showed out so far this weekend. It meant so much to us and to Greta to see so many of you embracing the movie and the theatrical experience. We see you and we you!” the theater shared on Instagram.

Critics are Also Loving Barbie

It isn’t just fans who are loving Barbie. Critics have been responding favorably to the film as well. Barbie currently has a 90 percent critic’s score on Rotten Tomatoes and , writing that “Barbie is quite possibly Gerwig’s best film to date. It is insightful, hilarious, and packed with thoughtful commentary as well as an incredible amount of Easter eggs and one-liners that will reward audiences of every age and opinion on Barbie, not just on the first watch, but on multiple rewatches. Barbie pulls off the near-impossible task of taking what could have been merely a capitalist IP-driven cash grab and turned it into a celebration of and commentary on culture that gives the audience permission and encouragement to challenge not only everything they think Barbie represents but what the world asks of us mere humans as well so that we never go back into the box again.”

What Is Barbie About?

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hit theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel. 

Barbie is in theaters now.