Barbie Box Office Even Bigger Than Reported

Barbie‘s final opening weekend box office numbers say the film earned $162 million at the domestic box office, about $7 million higher than originally reported on Sunday and more than $50 million better than nearly box office projections for the Greta Gerwig-directed blockbuster. Added to $182 million from 70 international markets, that brings the Mattel/Warner Bros. movie’s global opening to $344 million, more than double the film’s reported $150 million budget. Combined with $82.4 million from Oppenheimer, the box office had its fourth-largest weekend of all time in North America, and far and away the largest of the pandemic era.

The film, which was championed at Warner Bros. by star Margot Robbie, has turned into the biggest success story Warner Bros. has had since The Batman last March. The studio has struggled with a string of box office disappointments, including The Flash, which opened at just $55 million domestically in spite of a reported $300 million budget. Besides The Batman, the only pandemic-era Warner Bros. movie to make more than $162 million domestically — and we’re talking all-time, not in its opening weekend — was Black Adam, which took home $167 million (and $393 million globally). 

It’s a virtual certainty that Barbie will pass those numbers by next weekend, and distinctly possible the movie will earn $5 million and pass Black Adam in North America as early as today. Other recent WB hits that Barbie is likely to pass this week include Aquaman ($199 million), A Star is Born ($201 million), and It: Chapter Two ($212 million).

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hit theaters on July 21st. 

Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel.