Barbie has been omitted from Max's release schedule yet again, making some wonder when Greta Gerwig's summer smash hit will start streaming.
The Margot Robbie-led big-screen take on Mattel's classic toyline lit up the box office upon release in late July.
The film racked up over $1.4 billion worldwide, making it the biggest movie of 2023 up to this point.
However, after months of waiting - and a recent physical release on October 17 following its digital online release in September - fans are eager to know when the film will debut on the Warner Bros.-owned Max service.
Barbie Streaming Remains a Question
Heads have turned after Warner Bros. did not include Barbie on its November release schedule for the Max streaming platform.
Max's November 2023 streaming slate includes hits like James Cameron's Aliens (November 1), A Cinderella Story (November 1), the Legally Blonde films (November 1), The Conjuring 2 (November 15), and Spike Jonze's Her (November 28).
This is the latest update not to include the Greta Gerwig-directed blockbuster, but it does not necessarily mean the candy pink comedy will not come to the service over the next month.
Major Warner Bros. movies like The Flash and Evil Dead Rise were not included in their respective Max release month updates.
Instead for some of its larger releases, the studio has demonstrated a pattern of making a special launch announcement specifically for a certain title.
Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav previously told shareholders Barbie would come to the service sometime "in the fall" following its PVOD and physical release, which means a November debut still seems likely:
“We really believe in the motion picture window. Let this movie go to the motion picture window, play it up, build up that brand, then have it go into PVOD. Take it through these windows of economics that have worked forever, and we think work extremely well. And then put it on Max. And when it goes on Max, we think it’ll have a very good impact and that’ll be in the fall."
When Exactly Will Barbie Stream on Max?
Even though Barbie may not be on the newly public November Max streaming slate, it seems more than likely the film will hit the streamer sometime in the next four weeks or so.
However, when exactly that is remains a question.
One likely candidate could be the week of November 21 (a.k.a. Thanksgiving in the United States).
With families getting together and kicking off the holiday season, this could be the perfect time for a tentpole streaming debut like Barbie's.
And if the movie were to come to Max in time for Turkey Day, Warner Bros. could capitalize on Barbenheimer weekend.
Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is set for an online release that same weekend.
While both movies are distributed by different studios, they have become synonymous with each other after opening the same weekend in theaters and creating the viral phenomenon known as Barbenheimer (where audiences went to see both films back-to-back).
With Nolan's nuclear odyssey coming to digital that same weekend, releasing Barbie that same week on Max could capture some of that summer blockbuster magic from earlier this year.
Barbie is available for purchase now on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD.
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