Will Barbie Beat The Super Mario Bros. Movie To Become 2023's Top-Grossing Film?

Barbie is currently the summer's biggest box office smash. The film has been breaking box office records left and right, and it managed to earn $1 billion in only 17 days. Currently, it's box office total is $1,197,990,865, making it the highest-grossing film directed solely by a woman and Warner Bros.'s highest-grossing movie domestically. However, there is one big milestone Barbie has yet to accomplish, and that's the title of the highest-grossing movie of 2023. Currently, the crown belongs to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned $1,355,156,655. The big question is: Will Barbie take first place? 

According to Forbes, the final difference between The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Barbie will only come down to tens of millions "at most." Barbie is expected to raise its total to $1.26 billion this weekend, although it might finally be dethroned as the highest weekend earner thanks to DC's Blue Beetle. This weekend will also see the release of Gran Turismo and Strays, which could also take away from Barbie's momentum. After this weekend, Barbie will need to earn a little less than $100 million to dethrone the animated movie. While that's certainly doable for the Greta Gerwig-directed film, this race continues to be as heated as a late-night game of Mario Kart. 

Barbie Beats Captain Marvel's Box Office Record:

Not only is Barbie the top earner for a film directed solely by a woman, but it recently dethroned Captain Marvel to become the highest-grossing live-action film directed or co-directed by a woman. Now, the only films Barbie needs to beat to officially become the highest-grossing film directed or co-directed by a woman are Frozen and Frozen II, which were helmed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck. Frozen's worldwide total was $1,280,802,282, and Frozen II earned $1,450,026,933. Recently, Barbie did surprise Frozen II at the domestic box office, but it still has a ways to go to top the animated sequel's worldwide total.

What Is Barbie About?

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.