Highest grossing movies by female directors: 5 films that Barbie beat on its way to box office history

In 1997, James Cameron’s Titanic became the first film ever to gross $1 billion worldwide, an achievement that now comes around a couple of times a year, at least. 

Yet, in the more than 15 years since Titanic’s release, only three movies co-directed by women have passed the billion dollar milestone - Captain Marvel ( $1.13 billion), Frozen ($1.45 billion), and Frozen II ($1.28 billion).

Last week, Barbie became the first film directed exclusively by a woman to achieve this feat. Barbie, written and directed by Greta Gerwig, has made $1.03 billion worldwide, according to the latest data. It is by far Gerwig’s most successful film, making more than three times as much as her three previous movies combined.

On its way to box office history, Barbie overtook a number of other great movies by female directors that helped to pave the way for its success.

What are the highest grossing movies directed by women?

Fifty Shades of Grey - Sam Taylor-Johnson - $570 million

Naturally a film based on one of the most successful books by a female author could be expected to perform well, but Fifty Shades of Grey was a runaway success, becoming one of the most successful 18-rated movies of all time.

Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the film followed a young woman who becomes involved in an intense sexual relationship with a mysterious and wealthy businessman. Fans of the erotic book series flocked to the cinema to see Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey be brought to life.

The two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed, directed by James Foley, failed to capitalise on its success, making less than $400m each worldwide.

Mamma Mia! - Phyllida Lloyd - $589 million

Mamma Mia! Is one of the most successful musical films ever made - on its release it came second only to The Lion King, though now it has dropped down to 11th place. The film boasts an all-star cast with Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, and more living out a Mediterranean fantasy to a smashing ABBA soundtrack.

The long-awaited sequel was given to Ol Parker and fared well, making just shy of $400 million when it was released in 2018. Lloyd went on to direct historical biopic The Iron Lady, and Amazon Prime drama Myself.

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Jennifer Yuh Nelson - $664 million

This animated comedy sequel, about a martial arts master panda in training, marks a rare instance of a female director replacing a male in a franchise - in the previous two titles on this list, it was the other way around. The sequel out-earned the first movie by around $30 million. 

Yuh Nelson returned for Kung Fu Panda 3, to co-direct alongside Alessandro Carloni, and the film grossed over $500 million. The pair will hand over to Mike Mitchell Stephanie Stine, who will direct the fourth instalment, due out next year. 

The Matrix Reloaded - Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski - $741 million 

Trans directing sisters, the Wachowskis, helmed every instalment of The Matrix quadrilogy, though they had not come out as trans at the time that they made Reloaded. The series follows Neo, an ordinary man who finds out he is the chosen one who discovers that reality is a simulation and humanity is enslaved by machines.

Reloaded built on the success of the first film, upping the box office from $467m to $741m. Unfortunately, this was the high watermark, the third film grossed a little over $420m, and the belated fourth instalment, released during the pandemic was a disappointment, making less than $160m.

Wonder Woman - Patty Jenkins - $822 million

Superhero movies have been all but guaranteed money-spinners for the last decade at least, and Wonder Woman, one of the first of the genre to be directed by a woman, proved to be no exception. Starring Gal Gadot as the Amazonian heroine, the film was a straight origin story that introduced Wonder Woman to the DC Universe.

Wonder Woman is still one of the most successful DC movies, far outearning pandemic victims The Suicide Squad and sequel Wonder Woman: 1984, and evening faring better than Henry Cavill’s first outing as Superman in Man of Steel. Wonder Woman held the title as the highest-grossing film to be solo-directed by a woman for six years, until Barbie came along.