'Barbie' Makes Greta Gerwig 1st Female Director with Billion-Dollar Movie

Greta Gerwig achieved something pretty great in showbiz this weekend -- she's now the sole female director to have crossed the billion-dollar line ... and it's because of "Barbie."

Indeed ... the inevitable happened Sunday, with "Barbie" raking in over a $1 billion at the worldwide box office and once again taking the top spot here domestically. That's 3 weeks in a row that the flick has dominated, and at this point ... there's no sign of it slowing down.

Now, as for Greta ... like we said, she stands alone (as a woman) in this billion-dollar club -- which is a historical feat, and something that hasn't been done before "Barbie" came along.

Yes, there are other female directors who are technically in that 10-figure category -- including Jennifer Lee and Anna Boden, who co-directed the "Frozen" and "Captain Marvel" movies, respectively, alongside men -- but GG's in a league of her own now as a standalone.

There's a very large gap between Greta and the other solo female directors with box office hits -- #2 on the list is Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman," which made around $412 mil through its run. There's an even bigger drop-off with the next tier of films/directors ... Betty Thomas' "Alvin and the Chipmunks" ($219M); Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight" ($192M); Elizabeth Banks' "Pitch Perfect 2" ($184M); Cate Shortland's "Black Widow" ($183M) ... and so on.

With Greta's milestone here ... it proves that women are pretty damn bankable, not just as actresses -- but behind the camera as well. Full circle, really, for the themes of 'Barbie.'

Considering her indie background, you could argue Greta's has had a meteoric rise over the past 5-6 years. And like we previously reported, there's currently no active plans for a sequel at this point -- which, if you know studios, is unheard of when this sorta success is had.

There's a report saying WB actually tried brokering a deal for Greta to direct 'Barbie 2' months before the film came out -- but her agents shot that down and insisted on waiting to see how it actually performed. Smart move in hindsight ... Greta can fetch a fortune now.

BTW ... Greta actually turned 40 a couple days ago, and Ryan Gosling surprised her with a flash mob performance full of Kens, complete with his signature song from the movie.