Greta Gerwig has become the first solo female director to surpass $1 billion (£786 million) at the global box office with her movie Barbie.

On Sunday, two days after the Lady Bird filmmaker’s 40th birthday, Barbie broke the $1 billion milestone at the global box office, making Gerwig the first solo female director to achieve the feat.

Three other billion-dollar movies were co-directed by women, including Frozen and Frozen II, helmed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, and Captain Marvel, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.

Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, hit the milestone after 17 days of release, making it the fastest Warner Bros. movie to reach the landmark figure. The record was previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which hit $1 billion in 19 days in 2011.

In a statement on Sunday, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, co-chairs and co-CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, reacted to the movie’s financial success.

“A massive achievement like this is possible when you have an incredible filmmaking team, with cast and crew coming together to create a truly special moviegoing experience,” they said. “With Barbie becoming the biggest film at the summer box office, Greta now joins an elite group of writer/directors whose singular vision has generated $1 billion at the global box office, a milestone that is testament to her brilliance and to her commitment to deliver a movie that Barbie fans of every age want to see on the big screen.”

During an interview with Collider on the film’s press tour, Robbie, who also produced the movie, recalled her pitch meeting with Mattel and Warner Bros. and revealed she told them it would make a billion dollars.

“I think I told them that it’d make a billion dollars, which maybe I was overselling, but we had a movie to make, OK?!” she quipped.

Barbie is currently the second-highest-grossing film of 2023 behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

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