Greta Gerwig told The New York Times that watching her “Barbie” movie become a historic comedy blockbuster has been “so amazing.” The film debuted to a whopping $162 million, breaking the opening weekend record for a female director. It then scored $26 million on its first Monday after release, setting a new Warner Bros. in-house record for the studio’s top Monday grosser.
“I wanted to make something anarchic and wild and funny and cathartic,” Gerwig said. “The idea that it’s actually being received that way, it’s sort of extraordinary.”
With broken records and critical acclaim, conversations around “Barbie” are already turning towards a potential sequel. The New York Times asked Gerwig if “Barbie” is “the start of a franchise” or “a complete story with a definitive ending.” The director and co-writer gave no definitive answer but said she’s not thinking about a follow-up at this time.
“At this moment, it’s all I’ve got,” Gerwig said. “I feel like that at the end of every movie, like I’ll never have another idea and everything I’ve ever wanted to do, I did. I wouldn’t want to squash anybody else’s dream but for me, at this moment, I’m at totally zero.”
Gerwig also weighed in on the conservative backlash that has erupted over the movie. Prominent conservative figures like podcaster Matt Walsh have condemned “Barbie” as “the most aggressively anti-man, feminist propaganda fest ever put to film.” Ben Shapiro posted a viral video on social media in which he set Barbie dolls on fire with a BBQ lighter while railing against the movie.
Did Gerwig anticipate the degree to which her film would anger right-wingers? “No, I didn’t,” she told The Times. “Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men. I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.”
In the face of conservative outrage, such media figures as Whoopi Goldberg have publicly defended the film.
“It’s a movie!” Goldberg exclaimed on recent “The View” episode. “It’s a movie about a doll! I thought y’all would be happy. [Barbie] has no genitalia, so there’s no sex involved. Ken has no genitalia, so he can’t — it’s a doll movie! And the kids know it’s colorful and it’s Barbie.”
“Barbie” is now playing in theaters nationwide from Warner Bros.
