Feminist filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has broken box office records this weekend after it opened to $300 million in ticket sales worldwide, and $155 million domestically, selling the most ticket sales of any opening weekend in 2023.
Barbie’s debut is the biggest in history for a female director, beating Patty Jenkins’ record for Wonder Woman which grossed $100.5 million domestically, and $122.5 million internationally during its opening weekend.
Women also made up 65% of the audience for Barbie, and 40% of the ticket sales were purchased by those under the age of 25.
While the film was backed with a $145 million budget by Warner Bros. and the American toy company Mattel, Gerwig, who is best known for her mid-size budget films Ladybird and Little Women, didn’t disappoint viewers as the PG -13 movie received an A rating on CinemaScore, and a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Barbie, the pink, glittery, feminist satire centered on the iconic fashion doll manufactured by Mattel, had a dark, dramatic companion at the box office: Oppenheimer.
The British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan, known for The Dark Knight, Interstellar, and Inception, saw his R-rated historical drama Oppenheimer rake in $80.5 million in its opening weekend, despite opening on the same day as its high-heeled competition.
“This is an unequivocally great weekend for moviegoing,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Barbie and Oppenheimer are complementing each other at the box office, not taking the audience from each other.”
“Studios gave audiences two uniquely different, smart and original stories that were meant for the big screen”, adds Michael O’Leary, President and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, the industry’s trade organization. “People recognized that something special was happening and they wanted to be a part of it.”
The cultural phenomenon being referred to as “Barbenheimer” is not only significant due to its massive opening weekend success, but because neither films are sequels, remakes, nor part of an ongoing franchise.
This is astonishing for entertainment companies to see, as the films were released at a time when streaming services are dominating the industry, the global market is still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the first combined strike between actors and writers in 63 years has kicked off.
The estimated total for Barbenheimer’s weekend ticket sales is $465 million. If this number is accurate, it could be the biggest box office weekend of all time, beating out Avengers: Endgame which brought in $402 million for its opening weekend.