Barbie has become the biggest film to be directed by one woman, surpassing the $1 billion mark.

Global box office sales have ensured that the movie, which made its debut just over a fortnight ago, has broken the record for a female director previously held by Patty Jenkins who directed Wonder Woman.

Warner Bros, which produced it, said the fantasy-comedy movie has taken in $459 million (£360m) from domestic cinemas- counting the United States and Canada - and another $572.1m (£449m) overseas, for a total of $1.0315 billion (£785m). The figure was confirmed by media analytics firm Comscore.

Oscar-nominated Barbie writer and director Greta Gerwig also became the first female filmmaker to surpass the billion-dollar benchmark as a solo director.

In its third weekend in cinemas, Barbie drew another $127m (£99.7m) worldwide, with its popularity fuelled by a social media craze that even the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak latched onto, posting a picture on his Twitter account at the cinema with his family.

Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, the movie sends Mattel Inc’s iconic doll on an adventure into the real world.