Barbie makes box office history in 2023, as the live action film beats out the opening weekends of The Super Mario Bros. movie and every Marvel Studios film released this year.
2023 has been a mixed bag of success for big Hollywood productions. For every success as good as The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, there have also been huge disappointments such as The Flash and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. On the other hand, Barbie has been hitting the high notes with both critics and the audience alike.
And now, Barbie may have struck pure gold by reaching a significant box office opening weekend milestone.
According to the reports of major box office trackers such as Box Office Mojo, Barbie is estimated to have made a massive $155 million domestic opening weekend.
Weekend Box Office Estimates: #Barbie $155.0M #Oppenheimer $80.5M #SoundofFreedomMovie $20.1M https://t.co/VZmlTg9ile pic.twitter.com/8kyhHlnLo8
— Box Office Mojo (@boxofficemojo) July 23, 2023
This is significant on two key points of view. One is that this is the biggest opening box office weekend record of what is effectively the post-pandemic period. Theatrical releases of major studios and production companies suffered significant losses during the pandemic years between 2019 and up to 2022.
Moreover, Barbie’s $155 million opening weekend haul is the fourth biggest overall in history. Not just that, but it is the best year-to-date box office weekend of 2023. For comparison, The Super Mario Bros. Movie had a $146 million opening weekend, and that film had a worldwide box office of $1.35 billion. In addition, Marvel Studios films Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania had a domestic opening weekend box office of $106 million while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 kicked off its run with $118 million.
Along with Barbie, Oppenheimer won big with its own $80+ million box office opening weekend salvo. This is also noteworthy, as this is the first time since the pre-pandemic era that two theatrical releases opened within $80 to over $100 million during the same weekend. Some moviegoers are discussing on social media and platforms such as Reddit, speculating that the success of "Barbenheimer" is a sign that the cinema is on its comeback season.
Will Barbie continue to have legs on its way to its second opening weekend? This second week could be a more crucial indicator of its performance. After all, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One suffered an unexpected 64% second weekend drop, the worst in the history of the franchise.
And while Barbie maybe partying for now, Marvel Studios may have the last laugh. There is still The Marvels, coming up in November. Starring Brie Larson (Carol Danvers), Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau), Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan), and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), this Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Five movie serves as the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel which had a domestic $153 million opening weekend and ultimately made $1.13 billion. Could it be the Barbie killer by the end of 2023?
What did you think of the impressive box office gross so far of the Barbie movie? Could Mattel continue its winning streak with the live-action Masters of the Universe being shopped to other studios after Netflix cancelled its development?
Directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, and America Ferrera. Produced by Mattel Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Barbie is currently showing in theaters worldwide.
I think the Mario movie was the only one that came close this year to marketing but I am not shocked Barbie beat it. The amount they spent on marketing alone and creative campaigns is insane when you look at the budget.
It has a very low rewatch value though, which will show in time.
This is nothing really to go by honestly. Mario was still a better movie.