Margot Robbie Told Warner Bros. ‘Barbie’ Would Make $1 Billion When Pitching the Film
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” has become the newest billion-dollar hit at the box office, just as its lead star Margot Robbie predicted in a pitch meeting with Warner Bros. and Mattel.
As the news broke about the big milestone on Sunday, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff shared a clip of an interview she conducted with Robbie during a press junket for “Barbie” in June (which you can watch below). Nemiroff asked Robbie, who is also a producer on “Barbie,” what she told the Warner and Mattel teams when trying to convince them to give Gerwig full creative control as they brought the most famous doll ever made to the screen.
“I think my pitch in the green-light meeting was the studios have prospered so much when they’re brave enough to pair a big idea with a visionary director. And then I gave a series of examples like, ‘dinosaurs and Spielberg,’ […] pretty much naming anything that’s been incredible and made a ton of money for the studios over the years,” Robbie said.
“And I was like, ‘And now you’ve got Barbie and Greta Gerwig.’ And 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 added.
But after shooting finished on “Barbie” and the film’s teaser trailer released to loads of fan excitement online this past winter, Warner Bros. also believed they had a billion-dollar hit on their hands.
As TheWrap reported last month, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Warner studio chiefs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, along with other top company execs, to plan out a months-long, company-wide marketing campaign for “Barbie” — along with dozens upon dozens of brand partnerships.
Gerwig’s vision and Warner’s marketing paid off, as “Barbie” is now the fastest Warner Bros. release ever to hit $1 billion, reaching the mark in 17 days. It’s also the first film from a solo female director to reach that milestone.
“Barbie” is also ahead of the pace set by “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which hit $1 billion in 26 days, finishing its theatrical run with $574 million in North America and $1.35 billion worldwide. That puts “Barbie” in line to become the year’s highest-grossing film and the fourth highest since theaters reopened.
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