Wonder Woman opened to huge numbers this weekend, and its $100 million opening is the biggest ever by a female director. Director Patty Jenkins must be ecstatic. If it keeps up at this pace (and honestly the film is so good it probably will), it could very easily become the top grossing film ever directed by a woman. What is its competition you ask? Well let’s take a look.
Frozen: Ok, including this animated Disney flick is entirely fair, considering it was co-directed by a woman. Still however, its over $400 million haul at the box office is within easy reach. Wonder Woman is already a quarter of the way there.
Shrek: This 2001 Mike Myers hit was also c0-directed by a woman. We’re sensing a pattern here. Good animated film, with strong female leads, equals success. The first in the series of films grossed over $267 million.
Twilight: Ok, finally, we get to a solo female directed film. The first film in this very successful franchise hauled in over $192 million and set the tone for the rest of the series.
Pitch Perfect 2: Elizabeth Banks is a successful actresses, and a successful director. Really is there anything she can’t do? It’s a shame she had to back out of making the third film in the series, because this one was so good it tops $183 million.
What Women Want: Back when Mel Gibson was actually a bankable star, he starred in this film by Nancy Meyers about a man gets the ability to hear women’s thoughts. It was a huge hit, making over #182 million.
Fifty Shades of Grey: Unfortunately over half of this film’s gross came on opening weekend, and it dropped off steadily from there. Still, it ended up making over $166 million, and until Wonder Woman beat it this weekend, it was the highest opening ever by a female director.
