Barbie Has Most Movie Ticket Presales Since Avatar: The Way of Water

“Okay Barbie, let’s go party,” indeed. According to the latest figures, the Barbie movie has sold the most presale tickets since James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water hit theaters back in mid-December of last year. This tracking is certainly raising eyebrows as Warner Bros. is about to debut Barbie in what is expected to be a big weekend at the box office. Universal Pictures is opening Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in theaters and IMAX – a major star-studded drama aimed at primarily the adult-male demographic, while Barbie will obviously appeal to female viewers across many age ranges. As of writing this, Barbie is projected to open to at least $90 million, with projections now speculating that, based on presales, the film could earn as much (if not more than) Avatar 2‘s $134M opening weekend. If that’s indeed the case, it will be a massive win for Warner Bros., huge personal bests for Barbie director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie, and a needed boost for Hollywood and movie theaters in general. 

It’s entirely to the credit of Warner Bros. and its PR team that Barbie has become a cultural milestone of the magnitude it clearly has. There are actual ‘Barbie Parties’ taking shape all over the world, causing tickets to be bought-up in group-sized amounts. There’s also been the “Barbieheimer” trend that has gone viral on social media – a sort of cinematic race between Barbie and Oppenheimer that has ended up sparking a challenge (mostly thanks to celebs)  to see both on opening weekend. 

Word of mouth will also be working in Barbie’s favor: the film currently holds a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with nearly 150 reviews having been submitted. 

In ComicBook.com’s review of Barbie, Nicole Drum writes: 

Barbie is quite possibly Gerwig’s best film to date. It is insightful, hilarious, and packed with thoughtful commentary as well as an incredible amount of Easter eggs and one-liners that will reward audiences of every age and opinion on Barbie, not just on the first watch, but on multiple rewatches. Barbie pulls off the near-impossible task of taking what could have been merely a capitalist IP-driven cash grab and turned it into a celebration of and commentary on culture that gives the audience permission and encouragement to challenge not only everything they think Barbie represents but what the world asks of us mere humans as well so that we never go back into the box again.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Barbie opens in theaters on July 21st.