Director Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” celebrated a glamorous theatrical release on Friday, grossing $70.5 million – the biggest theatrical release of any film in 2023.
According to Variety, the massive number surpassed the June film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which grossed $51.8 million when it first aired. The figure is a composite of the $22.2 million that “Barbie” earned from previews on Thursday and $42.8 million on Friday, which opened in 4,243 theaters.
“Barbie,” a Warner Bros. Discovery film — and Mattel’s first foray into the film industry — had an intense marketing campaign leading up to its release – from a real-life Barbie dream house in Malibu to licensing deals with fast-food chains. And given its box office success, it paid off.
The Grove Marquee announces the opening of the film “Barbie” on July 20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
According to Variety, if the film achieves an estimated total budget of at least $155 million in its three-day opening weekend, it would overtake Super Mario Bros. for the biggest debut of 2023. There’s also a chance for the biggest opening weekend ever for a female director.
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The all-pink fantasy film is aimed at audiences of all ages and stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu, alongside other big names. It tells the story of Barbie and Ken who decide to explore the real world.
The summer’s other blockbuster, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which was released on the same day as Barbie, was also a big hit, grossing $33 million. According to Variety, “Oppenheimer” is on track to have one of the highest-grossing opening weekends for an R-rated film.
“Oppenheimer” – a darker three-hour historical drama about the development of the atomic bomb – starring Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt. Although his story is a stark contrast to “Barbie’s” cotton candy comedy, it has one thing in common: it lures audiences back to theaters for a “summer movie extravaganza.”
According to the National Association of Theater Owners, 200,000 fans bought advance tickets to see both films on the same day. They coined the name “Barbenheimer” to refer to the shared opening day of both films.
Since the pandemic began, theaters have seen attendances fall, and ticket sales have not quite recovered — down 20% since 2019, according to data from Comscore.
The summer releases of fan-favorite Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible franchises underperformed, suggesting that blockbuster movies may not be drawing audiences like they used to.
Add to that two major Hollywood strikes by writers and actors that have brought script production to a standstill — likely to slow theater traffic even further as studios struggle to create new content.
“Movies don’t write themselves. You have to have actors in front of the camera,” media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told CBS News. “Therefore it will be very important that the problem is solved – the sooner the better.”
And while “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” seem to breathe new life and excitement into Hollywood and cinemas, with the looming strikes hanging over the industry, the big question is, “What next?”
— Michael George contributed to this report.
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Simrin Singh