Sublime! ‘Barbie’ tops $1bn globally in first for solo woman director

LOS ANGELES – Hollywood’s pink wave has yet to crest as Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” dominated for a third straight weekend in North American theaters, pushing the film’s global haul past $1 billion in a first for a woman director, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.

The Greta Gerwig-directed blockbuster, starring Margot Robbie as iconic doll Barbie and Ryan Gosling as boyfriend Ken, earned a projected $53 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, for a domestic total of $459 million and a whopping $1.03 billion worldwide.

Not only has “Barbie” thus become the first movie directed solely by a woman to pass the $1 billion mark, but it did so faster than any film — including those directed by men — in Warner Bros.’ 100-year history, executives there said.

The film, which earlier scored the biggest opening weekend of the year, “has captured the imagination…