‘Barbie’ Has Surpassed ‘The Dark Knight’ as Warner Bros.' Highest-Grossing Movie of All Time

Barbie has surpassed The Dark Knight as the top-earning movie in Warner Bros. history.

Greta Gerwig’s fantastical comedy, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie, has become the studio’s most financially successful film of all time. So far, it’s grossed $537.3 million domestically, surpassing Christopher Nolan’s 2008 superhero epic. The Dark Knight accrued $536 million in the U.S., on the way to $1.003 billion worldwide.

Barbie has already shot past Batman’s global gross, with $1.197 billion less than a month into its release. Within the next few days, it should eclipse The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($574 million) as the top-grossing film of 2023 in North America. Showing little sign of dwindling audiences and few worthy competitors, the film will likely play well into the colder months. It’s practically guaranteed to surpass Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($1.34 billion) as Warner’s highest-grossing worldwide release of all time. Likewise, Mario Bros. ($1.35 billion) will probably be unseated as the year’s top international performer.

This is hardly the first record Barbie has broken. It instantly knocked Super Mario Bros. from 2023’s top opening weekend spot and became the highest opening for any film with a female director. A few weeks later, Greta Gerwig became the highest-grossing female director of all time at both the domestic and international box offices. Gerwig is reportedly earning an unspecified bonus from the grosses, while star Margot Robbie will pull in an extra $50 million from the movie’s earnings.

Though Barbie’s dethroning of The Dark Knight likely stings, Christopher Nolan has hardly been a slouch at this summer’s box office. To date, his atomic bomb biopic Oppenheimer, half of the famous Barbenheimer double bill, has amassed $270 million domestically and $654 million internationally. While those aren’t Barbie numbers, it’s an unbelievable showing for a 3-hour psychodrama comprised entirely of dialogue.