‘Barbie’ tops Batman, becomes Warner Bros. Discovery’s biggest movie ever

For months and months ahead of the theatrical releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” — both debuted July 21, to the internet’s great delight — “Barbenheimer” was a persistent meme. Faux movie posters (like the one below from DiscussingFilm), T-shirts and more were mocked up, blending together “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig’s candy-pink creation and Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb biopic, “Oppenheimer.”

While some theatergoers made a double-feature of the two starkly different films, the $155-million opening weekend at the box office for “Barbie” clobbered the $82.4-million opening weekend showing for “Oppenheimer.”

Now “Barbie” has outshone another Christopher Nolan vehicle: 2008’s “The Dark Knight.” On Tuesday, “Barbie” crossed the $537-million threshold domestically, topping “The Dark Knight’s” $536-million record and becoming the highest-grossing domestic movie in Warner Bros. Discovery’s 100-year history, CNBC reported.

This isn’t even the first record “Barbie” has broken: The film’s global box office numbers surpassed the $1 billion mark in early August. Grossing $1.2 billion worldwide, that makes “Barbie” the first $1 billion movie for the new Warner Bros. Discovery company after the Warner Media and Discovery merger in 2022.

MORE: ‘Barbie’ is hitting the big screen, but is the movie meant for kids?

The movie’s debut has also rewarded both the director and the lead actress, delivering Gerwig the history-making distinction of biggest opening weekend ever by a female director and earning star and producer Margot Robbie a $50 million payday in salary and box office bonuses. The pair appear to be gracious winners, posting a trio of photos to the official Barbie movie’s X (formerly Twitter) account earlier this summer showing them supporting other highly anticipated blockbusters — including Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”

“Barbie” has even meant big things for the doll herself: Some vintage Barbies are fetching thousands of dollars right now, no doubt thanks to the movie’s huge success. Less than a week after the film premiered, the long-discontinued Allan doll was attracting bids as high as $799 on eBay.

MORE: 7 discontinued Barbies they don’t make anymore

Have you seen the “Barbie” movie yet?