Publications
Partners
Warner Bros.' Barbie has dominated for a third straight weekend in North American theatres, pushing the film's global haul past $1 billion in a first for a solo woman director, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.
The Greta Gerwig-directed blockbuster has tapped into a cultural zeitgeist: not only did it make history by hitting the billion-dollar box office milestone, it also did so faster than any film, including those directed by men, in Warner Bros.' 100-year history, executives there said.
The film, which earlier scored the biggest opening weekend of the year, "has captured the imagination of moviegoers around the world and the results are incredibly impressive," analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore said.
Starring Margot Robbie as iconic doll Barbie and Ryan Gosling as boyfriend Ken, the movie earned a projected $53 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, for a domestic total of $459 million and a whopping $1.03 billion worldwide.
Co-written by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach, it follows Barbie as she contends with her woman-led, pink-plastered fantasy land becoming infected with real world problems, in a comic self-aware commentary on the dolls' decades-old cultural significance.
A supporting cast including Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon and America Ferrera add even more star power to the film, while its soundtrack includes new songs by chart toppers Dua Lipa, Lizzo and Nicki Minaj, as well as a surprise hit in I'm Just Ken, the power ballad sung in the film by Gosling.
Barbie is only the sixth film to surpass $1 billion at the box-office since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Variety. Other films include The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Top Gun: Maverick.
Universal's Oppenheimer fell to third place over the box-office weekend. The dark historical drama opened the same week as Barbie and sparked the massive 'Barbenheimer' social media trend.
Click 'read more' to see what our critic thought about the film.
