Barbie has delighted audiences and critics alike – and has made history in the process. The Greta Gerwig-directed film has become the highest-grossing film that was directed or co-directed by a woman in U.S. box-office history, according to boxofficemojo.com.
Barbie has grossed $526.3 million in the U.S. as of Monday (Aug. 14), which puts it at No. 18 on boxofficemojo’s list of the 1,000 all-time top-grossing films. From that massive list, we extracted the 30 highest-grossing films that were directed or co-directed by women for this custom-made list.
While women have made great strides as directors of successful movies in recent years, men still dominate in the field. The film at No. 30 on our list – Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken – is far down at No. 637 on boxofficemojo’s top 1,000 list. But the barrier has been broken. All signs are that women directors will continue making gains in years to come.
The Wachowskis directed three of the 30-highest grossing movies by women directors – three films in The Matrix series. Lana Wachowski (formerly known as Larry Wachowski) and her sister Lilly Wachowski (formerly known as Andy Wachowski) are both trans women. Lana publicly revealed her transition in 2008. Lilly followed suit in 2016.
Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers, Betty Thomas, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Vicky Jenson and Jennifer Lee have each directed or co-directed two of the top 30 highest-grossing movies by women directors.
Barbie: The Album has climbed as high as No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The soundtracks to seven of the films on this list reached No. 1 on that chart – Wayne’s World, Sleepless in Seattle, Mamma Mia!, Pitch Perfect 2, Twilight, Frozen and Frozen 2.
Here are the 30 highest-grossing films in the U.S. that were directed or co-directed by women, according to boxofficemojo.com. These figures are not adjusted for inflation.
Director: Angelina Jolie
Domestic gross: $115.6 million
Overall rank: 637
Notes: Jolie is of course better known as an actress. She won an Oscar for best supporting actress for Girl, Interrupted (1999). She also received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2013. Her father, Jon Voight, is also an Oscar winner.
Director: Nora Ephron
Domestic gross: $115.8 million
Overall rank: 632
Notes: With You’ve Got Mail, writer/directorEphron re-teamed with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the stars of Sleepless in Seattle.
Director: Penelope Spheeris
Domestic gross: $121.7 million
Overall rank: 582
Director: Nancy Meyers
Domestic gross: $124.7 million
Overall rank: 569
Notes: Meyers received an Oscar nomination for original screenplay for co-writing Private Benjamin (1980), which gave Goldie Hawn her juiciest film role.
Director: Nora Ephron
Domestic gross: $126.8 million
Overall rank: 547
Notes: Sleepless in Seattle brought Ephron an Oscar nomination for original screenplay, following nods in that category for Silkwood (1983) and When Harry Met Sally… (1989). The talented journalist, writer and filmmaker died in 2012.
Directors: The Wachowskis
Domestic gross: $139.3 million
Overall rank: 465
Notes: The Wachowskis are the only collective of women directors on this list. All the other collaborations listed are of one woman with one or more men.
Director: Amy Heckerling
Domestic gross: $140.1 million
Overall rank: 461
Notes: This is the oldest film on this list. A female-directed film released the previous year just missed the list. (It would have ranked No. 31 if we’d kept going). That’s Big, the Penny Marshall-directed classic that brought Tom Hanks his first Oscar nomination.
Director: Mimi Leder
Domestic gross: $140.5 million
Overall rank: 458
Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Alessandro Carloni
Domestic gross: $143.5 million
Overall rank: 443
Director: Betty Thomas
Domestic gross: $144.2 million
Overall rank: 441
Notes: Thomas received seven consecutive Emmy nods (1981-87) for acting in Hill Street Blues before making a successful transition to directing. She has received three Primetime Emmy nods for directing.
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Domestic gross: $144.2 million
Overall rank: 440
Notes: Mamma Mia! is the second-highest-grossing film directed by an English woman.
Directors: Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman
Domestic gross: $160.9 million
Overall rank: 364
Director: Anne Fletcher
Domestic gross: $164 million
Overall rank: 347
Director: Chloé Zhao
Domestic gross: $164.9 million
Overall rank: 345
Notes: The Chinese-born Zhao received four Oscar nominations for Nomadland (2020). She won for directing and as one of the producers of the film, which was voted best picture. She was also nominated for original screenplay and film editing.
Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Domestic gross: $165.2 million
Overall rank: 343
Notes: Kung Fu Panda 2 brought Yuh an Oscar nod for animated feature film. She is an American who was born in South Korea.
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Domestic gross: $166.2 million
Overall rank: 339
Notes: As you probably guessed, Sam is short for Samantha. Fifty Shades of Grey is the highest-grossing film directed by an English woman.
Director: The Wachowskis
Domestic gross: $172.1 million
Overall rank: 318
Director: Nancy Meyers
Domestic gross: $182.8 million
Overall rank: 274
Director: Cate Shortland
Domestic gross: 183.7 million
Overall rank: 270
Notes: Black Widow is the highest-grossing film directed by a woman from outside the U.S. Shortland is Australian.
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Domestic gross: $184.3 million
Overall rank: 266
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Domestic gross: $194 million
Overall rank: 244
Director: Betty Thomas
Domestic gross: $219.6 million
Overall rank: 186
Directors: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
Domestic gross: $237.3 million
Overall rank: 160
Notes: Brave brought Andrews and Chapman an Oscar for animated feature film.
Directors: Vicky Jenson and Andrew Adamson
Domestic gross: $268.2 million
Overall rank: 126
Director: The Wachowskis
Domestic gross: $281.6 million
Overall rank: 118
Directors: Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck
Domestic gross: $401 million
Overall rank: 46
Notes: Frozen brought Lee and Buck (and producer Peter Del Vecho) an Oscar for animated feature film.
Director: Patty Jenkins
Domestic gross: $412.8 million
Overall rank: 37
Director: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Domestic gross: $426.8 million
Overall rank: 31
Directors: Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
Domestic gross: $477.4 million
Overall rank: 22
Director: Greta Gerwig
Domestic gross: $526.3 million
Overall rank: 18
Notes: Gerwig has received three Oscar nods – directing and original screenplay for Lady Bird (2017) and adapted screenplay for Little Women (2019). If Gerwig is nominated for directing for Barbie, she would become only the second woman in Oscar history (following Jane Campion) to receive two nods in that category.