Barbie has been a hit at the box office, already breaking 17 box office records during the film's time in theaters!
The Barbenheimer internet sensation finally hit theaters, with Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig's Barbie opening on the same day.
Going against the norm, the viral intrigue likely pushed more people out to the theaters than would've gone if both films hadn't been released during the same weekend.
As projections continued to soar in the days leading up to the July 21 release date, Barbie came out swinging with a dominant box office performance that broke numerous records.
Barbie Breaks Box Office Records
Domestically, Barbie has grossed an estimated $575 million as of August 23rd. Barbie was the 8th fastest film of all time to achieve this milestone.
Worldwide, The Barbie Movie passed $1.3 billion on Wednesday, August 23rd! The film is now eyeing a total of $1.5 to $1.6 billion by the end of its run.
Additionally, Barbie's box office run just got extended with the announcement that it will receive a limited IMAX release on the week of September 22nd. The limited re-release will include new post-credit scenes that are sure to bring the hardcore Barbie fans back to theaters!
Here are seventeen box office records that Barbie broke during its box office run.
1. Biggest Opening of 2023
The 2023 king of the box office, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, was trumped by Barbie during its 3-day opening weekend. Mario opened to $146.3 million.
2. Biggest Opening by a Female Director
Greta Gerwig's latest film beat Captain Marvel (co-directed by Anna Boden) as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film directed by a woman. Previously, Patty Jenkins held the record for Wonder Woman's $103.3 million opening.
3. Highest Opening For a Non-Sequel
In addition, Barbie is the highest opening weekend for a non-sequel, non-remake, and non-superhero movie. Originality (based on an iconic fashion doll) wins this time.
4. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling's New World Record
Stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling have never had a film open to more money at the box office. Robbie's previous highest was Suicide Squad ($133.7 million) and Gosling's was Blade Runner 2049 ($32.8 million).
5. Biggest Opening for a Toy-Based Film
Barbie earned the biggest opening weekend ever for a film based on a toy. Toy Story 4 grossed $120.9 million during its opening weekend.
6. Biggest Opening for a Movie Without IMAX
Barbie beat The Twilight Saga: New Moon to take over as the biggest opening weekend of all time without any IMAX screens.
7. Fourth-Biggest Weekend Ever
With the help of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer ($80.5 million), this is the fourth biggest domestic weekend of all time ($301.4 million). This is only the fourth time in history that the total box office is over $300 million.
Adding on the international earnings, Barbie has grossed $337 million worldwide. Oppenheimer added $93.7 million internationally, making its global opening total $174.2 million.
8. Biggest First Monday at the Box Office for Warner Brothers
The Barbie Movie continued to break box office records on its first Monday, becoming Warner Brother's biggest-selling movie for a Monday ever at $26.2 million domestically.
Coincidentally, the movie that previously held this record was Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, which made $24.6 million after adjusting for inflation.
9. Second Biggest First Monday for a Non-Holiday Film
To continue Barbie's first Monday box office milestones, it had the second biggest opening Monday for a non-holiday / non-Christmas ever at the domestic box office. Barbie is beat only by Avengers: Endgame which earned $36.9 million on its opening Monday.
If you include holiday films, Barbie touts the 9th highest opening Monday of all time. Currently, Black Panther has the highest domestic opening Monday with $40.2 million, followed by The Force Awakens at $40.1 million and Spider-Man: No Way Home at $37.1 million.
10. Biggest Second Friday Post-Covid
On the film's second Friday (July 28th), the film grossed $29 million at the domestic box office, giving Barbie the biggest post-covid second Friday at the box office! This record was previously held by Top Gun: Maverick with $25 million.
11. Biggest Opening Week For a Warner Bros. Movie
Barbie finished its opening week with $578.5 million dollars, making it the biggest opening week in history for a Warner Bros. movie (not adjusted for inflation)!
12. Barbie's Huge Second Weekend at Domestic Box Office
Barbie's second weekend added another $93 million to its domestic box office, totaling $351.4 million at the end of its second weekend.
Barbie broke the record for being the biggest 2nd 3-day weekend at the domestic box office post-covid! It narrowly beat The Super Mario Bros. Movie, who previously held this record at $92 million.
When compared to pre-covid movies, Barbie ranks 7th for the second 3-day weekend box office record, behind films such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($149 million), Avengers: Endgame ($147 million), and Avengers: Infinity War ($114 million).
13. Barbie's Historic Second Monday Box Office
Barbie's $15 million second Monday beat Top Gun: Maverick's $12.4 million to beat the record for the highest second Monday for a non-holiday/Christmas movie at the domestic box office!
If you include holiday weeks, Barbie's second Monday ranks 11th behind films such as Avatar 2 ($32.3 million), Star Wars: Rogue One ($32.1 million), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($31.4 million).
14. Highest Grossing Film Directed by a Woman
On Tuesday, August 1st, Barbie became the highest-grossing film solely directed by a woman! The director, Greta Gerwig, has previously directed Lady Bird and Little Women.
This record was previously held by Wonder Woman (directed by Patty Jenkins).
15. Barbie Passes a Billion
In the film's third weekend, Barbie became the 6th movie post-covid to pass the billion-dollar mark at the worldwide box office! It took Barbie 19 days to achieve this feat, becoming the 9th fastest film to make a billion.
Barbie's third weekend at the domestic box office was the eleventh highest of all time, grossing $53 million domestically. The highest third weekend domestically goes to Star Wars: The Force Awakens at $90.2 million and Avatar at $68.5 million.
16. Barbie Makes Warner Bros. History
On August 16th, Barbie made history for Warner Bros. by becoming the studio's highest-grossing movie of all time at the US box office!
Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight was WB's previous highest-grossing movie at $536 million.
17. Barbie Becomes The Highest-Grossing Movie of 2023
On Wednesday, August 23rd, Barbie finally surpassed the Super Mario Bros. Movie by becoming the highest-grossing movie of 2023 with $575 million domestically and $1.3 billion internationally.
Additionally, Barbie became the 14th highest-grossing movie of all time, behind Frozen 2 at $1.4 billion and Top Gun: Maverick at $1.5 billion. With Barbie projected to gross $1.5 to $1.6 billion by the end of its box office run, it's likely it will become the 10th highest-grossing film of all time, passing Avenger's $1.52 billion gross.
How Historic Will Barbie's Box Office Become?
Will there be a Barbie 2? Warner Bros. would be silly not to at least try and get Gerwig, Robbie, and Gosling back for another Barbie film.
Barbie may become only the second $1 billion earner in 2023. It will be hard to top Super Mario Bros.' $1.35 billion, but there's not a ton of true competition coming out.
Films like Haunted Mansion, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and Blue Beetle coming out within the next month aren't going to take much away from Barbie.
Another advantage Barbie has is that it's not reliant on premium format screens like IMAX or Dolby. With Oppenheimer taking up most of them, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 dropped hard in its second weekend.
65% of Barbie's audience was female and 81% of audience members were younger than 35, per Box Office Pro.
A younger audience indicates that many young women and girls that grew up or are growing up with Barbie dolls are invested in this film. The over-the-top marketing certainly worked this time.
Barbie is now playing in theaters worldwide.
