Margot Robbie to rake in millions as Barbie hits $1bn at box office
Aussie star Margot Robbie is set to receive an epic cash boost after her blockbuster Barbie movie rakes in $1bn at the box office in just three weeks.
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Aussie star Margot Robbie is set to rake in millions more in earnings after her blockbuster Barbie movie made history by reaching $US1 billion at the box office.
In her highest paid role yet, the Gold Coast-born actress received a salary of $US12.5 million ($19 million) to play the title character in director Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster movie.
Robbie’s salary matches her co-star Ryan Gosling’s pay packet to play Ken.
But as joint owner of Lucky Chap Entertainment, the production company behind Barbie, Robbie is also set to net a massive slice of the film’s revenue on top of her huge acting salary.
Robbie co-founded the female-focused Lucky Chap Entertainment with her husband Tom Ackerley and friends Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr in 2014.
The global phenomenon of the Barbie movie is set to ensure the team will be major Hollywood players for the foreseeable future.
The Barbie movie has made history by raking in a whopping $US1 billion at the global box office, with Australian movie fans driving its massive ticket sales.
Robbie had long predicted Barbie would smash records and last month said she told studio executives in the initial stages of the film that it would “make a billion dollars”.
Aussie fans attending the screenings have donned their pink and pastels at sold-out sessions across the country, making the film a cinematic event and reviving the movie business in the age of streaming.
Barbie’s global success was driven by box office sales in some of the world’s largest movie markets, including Australia, the United Kingdom and Mexico, CNN reports.
The movie has been the number one release in these markets every weekend since its release, according to tracking site Box Office Mojo.
Fans in China, the second-largest market in the world, have also got pink fever for the movie, which was inspired by the iconic Mattel character.
Not only has Barbie become the first movie directed solely by a woman to pass the billion-dollar mark, but it did so faster than any film — including those directed by men — in Warner Bros’ 100-year history, studio executives said.
As one half of the Barbenheimer craze — which saw fans worldwide flock to see Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in a double bill when the films were released on the same day — Barbie was always going to do well, an expert said.
“I’ve been in this game for 30 years and the Barbie and Barbenheimer phenomenon is as unprecedented as it was unpredictable,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, told AFP.
According to Mr Dergarabedian, only about 50 films in history have hit the billion-dollar mark.
BoxOffice Pro chief analyst Shawn Robbins told CNN that the movie had “tapped into cultural conversations about gender roles and female empowerment that aren’t bound by international borders.”
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