‘Barbie’ Overtakes ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ as Highest-Grossing Film of 2023 in North America

This “Barbie” is officially the highest-grossing movie of the year in North America.

Greta Gerwig’s fantasy-comedy, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has generated $575.4 million at the domestic box office, overtaking the previous champion, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which has collected $574 million domestically.

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“Barbie” has grossed $1.3 billion globally and will soon surpass “Mario” (with $1.35 billion globally) as the biggest worldwide release of 2023 as well. Only two Hollywood blockbusters this year have crossed the $1 billion mark and, notably, neither were superhero adventures or sequels in popular franchises.

“Barbie” started its record-breaking theatrical run in July with the best debut of the year ($162 million) and remained the No. 1 movie for four consecutive weekends. It also landed the biggest opening weekend for a film directed by a woman and became the highest-grossing movie directed solely by a woman. At this point, “Barbie” is the 14th-biggest domestic release and 20th-biggest global release of all time.

“Barbie” also recently surpassed Christopher Nolan’s superhero epic “The Dark Knight” ($536 million) as the highest-grossing domestic release in Warner Bros. history. It could eventually eclipse 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” ($1.34 billion) as the studio’s highest-grossing worldwide release in 100 years.

Gerwig, the Oscar-nominated director of “Lady Bird” and “Little Women,” co-wrote the screenplay with her partner Noah Baumbach. The cotton candy-colored blockbuster follows the popular doll as she leaves behind the seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land to discover the highs and lows of life in the real world. The cast also includes America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu and Michael Cera.

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