‘Barbie’ Becoming WB’s Biggest Hit

The movie is about to overtake ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2’ as the studio’s most successful global release.

Margot Robbie as Barbie in Warner Bros. Pictures’ 'Barbie,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

‘Barbie’ might have been knocked down to second place again at the domestic box office this weekend by ‘Gran Turismo’, which managed to take the top spot (yet only for the three-day weekend and only by $200,000, with final figures possibly changing that), but Greta Gerwig’s movie is now on track to surpass yet another record.

As of Monday, the movie had made $1.34 billion, which means it is $1 million from overtaking ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2’, the previous global champ. Of course, all of this has to be qualified with the usual “adjusted for inflation” argument, since ‘Deathly Hallows’ came out in 2011, when tickets prices were cheaper.

Barbie

"She's everything. He's just Ken."

PG-131 hr 54 minJul 21st, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch Barbie Online

Barbie: the story so far

Greta Gerwig attends the 'Barbie' Press Tour, Sydney Australia 2023. Photography by Caroline McCredie for Warner Bros/NBC Universal. Contact: jade.perry@nbcuni.com.

Directed by Gerwig, the film –– for anyone who has yet to see it –– brings the world of the iconic toy to life as Margot Robbie plays a Barbie living in “Barbie Land”, a place where variants of the character live happily: until she starts to realize she’s just not feeling the same way. Cue a trip to the real world…

‘Barbie’s success is all the more impressive because it has clearly connected beyond the initial rush of memes and jokes around the first couple of trailers. The movie has captured the public imagination, and alongside Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’, has become one of the movie events of the year.

It just keeps on breaking records, including non-holiday weekend earnings and low drops in subsequent weeks.

The film, which also stars Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Simu Liu and Will Ferrell, had a budget of roughly $100 million, and while it had an extensive promotional campaign, word of mouth and a clutch of positive reviews have carried it to big money.

Could it hit $2 billion? Anything is possible at this point, though with the state of the theatrical business post-Covid, it’s more unlikely than before the pandemic. Still, it continues to bring in audiences.

Will there be a ‘Barbie’ sequel?

Margot Robbie as Barbie in Warner Bros. Pictures’ 'Barbie,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

While backers/rights holders Mattel have naturally hinted at a whole world of follow-ups and spin-offs, there are no current and official announced plans.

Still Greta Gerwig, despite saying she had no ideas for a sequel, did say this to ‘People’ before the movie hit the billion mark:

“There’s a tone and a humor and a joy, and obviously the world is so beautiful. I want to go back to Barbie Land.”

Elsewhere at the Box Office

Sang Heon Lee, Darren Barnet, Archie Madekwe, Emelia Hartford and Pepe Barroso Silva are GT Academy drivers in Columbia Pictures 'Gran Turismo.'

(L to R) Sang Heon Lee, Darren Barnet, Archie Madekwe, Emelia Hartford and Pepe Barroso Silva are GT Academy drivers in Columbia Pictures 'Gran Turismo.' Photo: Gordon Timpen.

The other buzzy film of the summer, Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’, is barreling towards the $800 million mark at the worldwide box office after earning $29.1 million from 7,555 screens in 82 territories. Nolan’s film, a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb has enjoyed a massive $777 million worldwide gross — an astonishing figure for a somber, R-rated drama. And the money may well keep rolling, in since its debut in China is coming soon.

‘Gran Turismo’ added $11 million to bring its global haul to just over $53 million. The racing film will still need to put the pedal to the metal if it hopes to turn a profit.

Gran Turismo

"From gamer to racer."

PG-132 hr 15 minAug 25th, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch Gran Turismo Online

Elsewhere in Warner Bros. stable, ‘Meg 2: The Trench’ added $15.2 million from 16,224 screens in 77 offshore markets. That brings its global gross to $352.5 million.

And unlike other Hollywood releases, which have struggled in China lately, the giant shark movie has gotten a big boost from that market, earning $112.9 million

Then there is ‘Blue Beetle.’ The superhero origin story earned an estimated $10 million for the weekend in 71 international markets and on 10,421 screens. Globally, the picture has earned $81.8 million, a disappointing result for a movie that cost more than $100 million to produce.

(L to R) Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie in Warner Bros. Pictures’ 'Barbie,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.