UPDATE (6/25): βWonder Womanβ is now officially the highest grossing live-action film directed by a woman. So far, it has earned an estimated $652.9 million worldwide, surpassing Phyllida Lloydβs βMamma Mia!,β which totaled $609.8 million.
PREVIOUSLY:
βWonder Womanβ is about to break yet another awesome record for women in Hollywood.
This week, the Patty Jenkinsβdirected film not only crossed the $600 million threshold, but it will also surpass Phyllida Lloydβs 2008 βMamma Mia!β to become the highest grossing live-action film directed by a woman, The Hollywood Reporter first noted. βWonder Womanβ hit $609.5 million for its global sum β $293.2 million domestic and $316.3 million international β through Thursday, and will officially break the record sometime Friday, Warner Bros. said in a statement to HuffPost. βMamma Mia!β earned $609.8 million worldwide.
βItβs an incredible achievement when you look at the success of this movie,β Warner Bros. President of Domestic Distribution Jeff Goldstein told HuffPost Friday, saying that with each passing day and week the film continues to outpace where any historical comparisons predicted it should be.
βThe real story is the fact that Princess Diana has really hit everybody β young and old, male and female,β Goldstein added. βItβs truly a four-quadrant movie. The universal themes of what βWonder Womanβ stands for are really positive. When you look at what Patty Jenkins put together in a movie, it really is fun.β
Not only has Goldstein heard stories of multiple viewings by both men and women, but Fatherβs Day stood out as a particularly successful day.
βWonder Woman,β starring Gal Gadot under Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, became the biggest opening for a female director ever when it hit theaters June 2 and raked in more than $100 million.
The film is a contender to beat Jennifer Yuh Nelsonβs $665.7 million worldwide box office tally for 2011β²s βKung Fu Panda 2β to become the top-grossing film by a solo female director, THR notes. Jennifer Lee is another record-holder for Disneyβs βFrozen,β which she co-directed with Chris Buck to earn $1.28 billion worldwide.
βWonder Womanβsβ 21-day domestic box office total of $293 million has already surpassed that of 2013β²s βMan of Steel,β according to Forbes. (Sorry, Superman.)
Even Jenkins has had her moments of shock.
βIβm stunned by the success of the film. But Iβm also surprised how rare itβs been,β she told TIME. βI canβt wait till enough women filmmakers have had a chance to make movies of this size and scale and those movies have been successful. There will still be conversation about smaller issues. But it will be nice that they can just be filmmakers making films.β
Fans, get excited. Jenkins is already working on the sequel.