Fans are officially riding theBarbiewave as the movie hits theatres this weekend. While the movie faces strong competition fromOppenheimer, the Barbenheimer mania has gripped the audience and the double feature makes it a sure win for the movie business. Both the movies have crushed the early projections and enjoyed massive box office success. While theCillian Murphy-led sci-fi period drama garnered $174 million globally, theMargot Robbie-led feature emerged asthe clear winner with a total of $337M globallyand setting a plethora of records in its opening weekend.
BarbieCame and She Conquered
Barbiehas been long in making, and while there are numerous animated movies, Robbie’s version is the first live-action movie ever. The movie was first conceived in 2009 by Universal to no avail then Sony got the rights and began development in 2014, but that project did not pan out either. Finally, in 2018, Warner Bros landed the rights for the movie. Robbie would then join the project in 2019, whileGreta Gerwigwas announced as director and co-writer withNoah Baumbachin 2021.
Per a new report inDeadline, this weekend, the movie became the highest domestic opening of the year to date, surpassingThe Super Mario Bros‘ $146.4 opening weekend; it also dethronedThe Super Mario Brosfor the largest grossing day of 2023 with $70.8 million to Mario’s $54.8 million. Warner Bros Discovery, which has been desperate for a box office win after thefailure of major DC titles likeThe Flash,Shazam 2andBlack Adam,saw the largest advance sales ever withBarbieat $49.5M. It also became the studio’s largest non-sequel, non-DC opening, a place formerly claimed byIt.
RELATED:‘Barbie’ vs. ‘Oppenheimer’ Face-Off Delivers Over Half a Billion for Opening Weekend at Global Box Office
The movie is alsoRyan Gosling, Robbie, and Gerwig’s largest domestic and overseas opening as actors and director, respectively, and has marked the second-highest opening weekend for a female filmmaker, putting the movie next toCaptain Marvelwhich saw a $456.6M global start. ButBarbiedid deliver the highest opening weekend for female director domestically. It also marked the largest opening for a toy-based movie.
By contrast,OppenheimermarksChristopher Nolan’s third-highest-grossing opening weekend ever afterThe Dark KnightandThe Dark Knight Rises,and highest-grossing opening weekend for an R-rated film beating this year’sJohn Wick: Chapter 4. The movie also outperformedBohemian Rhapsodyto enjoy the biggest global opening weekend for a biopic and the biggest global opening for a drama since 2019. And the movie saw Nolan’s third biggest international box office opening as well as became his biggest IMAX opening.
The success of both features only go on to prove that when creators are in complete control of their work, the movies are certain to find their audience. Further making theWGA and SAG AFTRA strikesmore important than ever.
BarbieandOppenheimerare in theatres now. You can check out our conversation with Gerwig below:
