Box office records tumbled over the weekend as Barbie ruled the roost and amassed one of the biggest ever opening weekends for a film.
The much-hyped, much-talked about big screen live debut for the Mattel property easily earned the biggest ever non-sequel, non-superhero film opening weekend for a film, on its way to a $155m US total, part of a mammoth global haul.
Its US figure made it the biggest opening for a film, outdoing Super Mario Bros Movie, with the worldwide total of $337m boosted by international receipts totalling $182 million.
As the July 21 release date approached estimates for the US opening weekend rose, but the final total was well over the forecasts which eventually topped $100m.
Barbie’s US records included the biggest opening weekend from a female director, the biggest ever opening for its respective stars, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and director Greta Gerwig and, perhaps most importantly, the biggest ever for a toy-related film, easily outdoing Transformers Dark Of The Moon.
Exit polls in the US suggested the audience was made up of 70% women and girls, while it also boasted an A in audience aggregator site CinemaScore and 90% on critic review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Barbie was further boosted by opening against Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, with many going to see both films over the weekend, despite their diverse subject matters. It’s been dubbed Barbenheimer and became a cultural and social media sensation.
In the US, National Association Of Theatre Owners head Michael O’Leary said: “This was a phenomenal experience for people who love movies on the big screen. It was a truly historic weekend and continues the positive box office momentum of 2023. More importantly, it proves once again that America loves going to the movies to see great films.”
In the UK, Film Stories magazine noted: “It’s been fun to see films right back in the middle of the zeitgeist these past couple of weeks with the dual release of Oppenheimer and Barbie seemingly making the cinema a must-go destination and in a world of endless distractions, placing the movies squarely in the centre of the cultural conversation.
