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The fantasy-comedy, which was released in July, has made £1.1bn ($1.38bn) globally, surpassing the £1bn ($1.36bn) made by the Super Mario Bros Movies which was released in April.
Barbie starred Margot Robbie and Ryan Reynolds as the plastic-fantastic duo Barbie and Ken on an adventure in the real world and its star-studded cast included Dua Lipa, Rob Brydon and Helen Mirren.
In a joint statement, Warner Bros distribution chiefs Jeff Goldstein and Andrew Cripps said: “We’re not often rendered speechless by a film’s performance, but Barbillion has blown even our most optimistic predictions out of the water.”
Director Greta Gerwig also accomplished a milestone as she became the highest-grossing solo female director of a live-action movie with Barbie.
Three other billion-dollar blockbusters were co-directed by women, including Frozen and Frozen II, by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, and Captain Marvel, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
The release of Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer on the same day also helped the US summer box office reach £3.1bn ($4bn) for the first time since the pandemic.
Oppenheimer, the biopic starring Cillian Murphy in the creation of the atomic bomb took in £675 ($853m) globally and became the third biggest movie of the year.
People queued up to watch both movies on the same day, with many viewers sporting themed outfits for their “Barbenheimer” viewing- a term coined online by fans.
There has been great success in films this year so far, The Equalizer 3, starring Denzel Washington made £27.3 ($34.5m) in its first three days at North American box offices.
However, there are concerns that the rest of the year may not be as promising for Hollywood as the current SAG-AFTRA strike prevents actors from promoting studio movies.
