Although It Made Over $1 Billion At The Box Office, Greta Gerwig Thought Barbie Would End Her Career

Summary

• Barbie became one of the highest-grossing films in history, surpassing Warner Brothers' previous successes like Harry Potter and Aquaman.
• Despite initial doubts, Greta Gerwig's direction of Barbie brought critical acclaim and a billion-dollar box office success.
• The film's success helped revitalize the film industry, attracting moviegoers back to theaters in record numbers since the pandemic.

Barbie has been hailed as one of the films that saved the film industry during the summer of 2023. After several years of lackluster ticket sales at theaters, Barbie, in conjunction with Oppenheimer (AKA Barbenheimer) gave theater owners a reason to smile, bringing moviegoers back to theaters in numbers that had not been seen since before the pandemic.

Despite the success, both critically and at the box office, no one would have ever thought based on the name of the film and preconceived notions of what Barbie would be about that it would have ever broken box office records. This includes the writer and director of the film, Greta Gerwig, who may be receiving the biggest paycheck of her life from the film, despite believing that Barbie would end her career.

Not only did Barbie not end Gerwig's career, it would go on to make over $1 billion at the box office and make Gerwig a household name in the process.

Greta Gerwig Was Always Reluctant To Write 'Barbie'

Gerwig did not set out to write a script about Barbie. In fact, it was never an idea that had crossed her mind until Margot Robbie and Warner Bros. approached the director to tackle the job after the rights of the most iconic doll of the 20th Century.

Gerwig struggled with taking the job because she initially had no direction with what she wanted to do with the script, but she also did not want anyone else to write the script either.

"It’s not like a superhero, who already has a story. It felt very much like it was going to be an adaptation," Gerwig explained. "Except what we were adapting is a doll – an icon of the 20th century."

Gerwig went on to say, "It felt complicated enough, sticky enough, strange enough, that maybe there could be something interesting there to be discovered. I kind of had two thoughts: I love this and I can’t bear it if anyone else makes it. And: they’ll never let us make this movie."

To write the script, Gerwig enlisted the help of her partner, Noah Baumbach. The two worked on the script during the pandemic, which, oddly enough, influenced the direction that Barbie would eventually go.

"There was this sense of wanting to make something anarchic and wild and completely bananas“because it felt, like, 'Well, if we ever do get to go back to cinemas again, let’s do something totally unhinged,'" Gerwig said.

The feeling of chaos and disorder in the film is directly tied back to "the deep isolation of the pandemic, that feeling of being in our own little boxes, alone."

Despite the gusto to write once the job was accepted, Gerwig could not shake the feeling that writing and directing Barbie would end her career.

Greta Gerwig Thought That 'Barbie' Would End Her Career

Writing the script for Barbie was something that was completely outside of Gerwig's wheelhouse. As such, while she thought that she had created something special when the script was complete, there was still the nagging feeling that Barbie would end her career, a feeling that Gerwig credits in taking on the monumental task in the first place.

"It was terrifying. I think that was a big part of it," Gerwig explained to Dua Lipa during their chat. "I think there's something about starting from that place where it's like, 'Well, anything is possible!'"

Gerwig went on to say, "That feeling that I had was knowing that it would be really interesting terror. Usually that's where the best stuff is. When you're like, 'I am terrified of that.' Anything where you're like, 'This could be a career-ender,' then you're like, 'Ok, I probably should do it.'"

"I usually know on a gut level if something feels right," Gerwig said. "And if it doesn't you can lie to yourself, but it's not gonna wind up in a good spot."

Fortunately, Gerwig, who first rose to fame with Ladybird, knew that with the support that she had from the studio—and eventually from Mattel—that she had written a script that was going to be successful.

However, she never would have dreamed that Barbie would make over $1 billion and smash box office records in the process.

Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' Is One Of Highest Grossing Films In Box Office History

Barbie has become one of the highest-grossing films in the history of cinema. While not the highest-grossing, the film surpassed Warner Brothers' other most successful films to date, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Aquaman, and The Dark Knight Rises, all of which have grossed over $1 billion, an amazing feat for a film that many initially dismissed as a frivolous project.

To date, Barbie has grossed over $1.4 billion to land as the fourteenth highest-grossing film of all time.

To put in perspective the competition that Barbie has to move higher on the list, five of the highest-grossing films are from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, two are Disney classics, Titanic comes in at number four, and Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water, take the number one and three spots having grossed over $2.3 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively.

When Gerwig set out to put pen to paper to write Barbie, she never would have imagined the level of success the film would have, let alone the box office numbers it would bring in. But with a film that is so appealing and relatable to viewers of all ages, there was no way that it could fail.

Not only did it not fail, but proved to be just what audiences needed to return to theaters in droves, signaling the return of blockbuster films.