Diana Prince isn’t the only female superhero to break major barriers. As of this past weekend, “Captain Marvel” has netted $413.6 million domestically — officially besting “Wonder Woman’s” $412.6 million and becoming the highest-grossing woman-directed film at the domestic box office. Box Office Mojo reported the figures.
This is just “Captain Marvel’s” latest entry in the history books. With the superheroine origin story, co-director Anna Boden is the first woman to helm a live-action film that’s grossed over $1 billion as well as the woman director with the highest worldwide debut. The flick is also Marvel’s first title with a female lead, Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers; its first with a woman director; and its second with credited female screenwriters, Boden and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Additionally, “Captain Marvel” is the first comic book blockbuster composed by a woman, Pinar Toprak.
Although “Wonder Woman” is no longer the top earning woman-helmed pic at the domestic box office, it’s still holding on to a few of its own records. Domestically, the 2017 box office smash and critical darling is still the highest-grossing film from a solo female director. Patty Jenkins directed “Wonder Woman” on her own, while Boden co-helmed “Captain Marvel” with Ryan Fleck. And we can’t forget that Jenkins is the first woman to direct a superhero blockbuster as well as the first woman to helm a superhero film centered on a female character, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman.
“Wonder Woman’s” success also secured Jenkins’ history-making salary for its sequel, “Wonder Woman 1984.” She will reportedly receive a paycheck in the high seven figures, which makes her the highest-paid female filmmaker of all time.
Obviously, “Captain Marvel’s” accomplishments don’t negate “Wonder Woman’s” — and these films shouldn’t be pitted against each other. But the fact that the two highest-grossing women-helmed films are about confident, strong, ass-kicking women is worth celebrating. “Wonder Woman” paved the way for “Captain Marvel,” and together, they’re both blazing a trail for future women-helmed superheroine stories, such as Cate Shortland’s Black Widow standalone, and other women-directed blockbusters, including Ava DuVernay’s “The New Gods” and Chloé Zhao’s “The Eternals.” In other words, the strides “Wonder Woman” and “Captain Marvel” have made are just signs of the good things to come from other women directors and women’s stories.
“Wonder Woman” screened in theaters for 23 weeks and earned over $821.8 million worldwide. “Wonder Woman 1984” is scheduled to hit theaters on June 5, 2020. The plot is being kept under wraps, but we know that Kristen Wiig will co-star as the villain Cheetah and that Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor will return.
Still in theaters, the ’90s-set “Captain Marvel” traces its titular character’s rise and her role in an intergalactic war. No official word on a sequel yet, but given its unprecedented success — and that of “Avengers: Endgame,” in which Captain Marvel also appears — it seems likely we’ll be seeing more Carol Danvers movies.
