‘Barbie’, directed by Greta Gerwig, is set to become the first billion-dollar blockbuster entirely directed by a woman.

Record breaker: ‘Barbie’ is projected to surpass $1 billion in worldwide earnings according to Warner Bros., making Gerwig the first and only woman to solely direct a film reaching this awe-inspiring milestone.
* While some other women have shared directing credits on billion-dollar films—like Jennifer Lee with Chris Buck on Frozen and Frozen II, and Anna Boden with Ryan Fleck on Captain Marvel—Gerwig is the sole director of ‘Barbie’.

Billion dollar club: To date, only nine films centering female protagonists have crossed the billion-dollar line, which includes ‘Barbie’.
* Out of the 53 films that have made over a billion dollars, a scarce nine are centered around female protagonists.
* These films include animations like ‘Frozen’, ‘Frozen II’, ‘Finding Dory’, and ‘Beauty and the Beast’, along with ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’, ‘Captain Marvel’, ‘Titanic’, and a live-action ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

Female representation: Roughly 18% of all billion-dollar movies center on women or girls, but Hollywood’s progress towards gender parity remains lacking.
* Almost half of these films are animated features aimed at children, displaying a shortage of highly successful films about adult women.
* According to research done by Stacey L. Smith of the University of Southern California, while television and film have seen improved female representation—rising from 20% in 2007 to 44% in 2022—there remains a considerable disparity among the highest-grossing films.

Audience appeal: ‘Barbie’ drew a majority-female audience on its opening weekend.
* Women made up 69% of domestic ticket buyers on the film’s opening weekend, which then climbed to 71% in its second weekend.

Top takeaway: The success of ‘Barbie’ could potentially influence the number of women nominated for Oscars for best director.
* Greta Gerwig herself has already been nominated for an Oscar, for her 2017 movie ‘Ladybird’.

View original article on NPR

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