The epic battle that is Barbernheimer is over and Barbie stands alone as the victor.
In the process, Barbie also set a new opening box office record. The film brought in over $155 million over the weekend in the United States, the largest domestic box office earnings ever for a movie directed by a woman. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie unseated Captain Marvel, which brought in $153 million in its opening weekend back in 2019.
The film also unseated The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned $146 million in its opening weekend, to become the biggest domestic opening for 2023 so far. Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. Pictures president of domestic distribution, said in a statement seen by The Verge that its opening proves that Barbie is “the theatrical event of the summer.”
“The massive, overwhelming response we’ve seen out there proves what we’ve known from the beginning: that ‘Barbie’ is not only an incredibly special film, but clearly the theatrical event of the summer, if not the year. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of it, and congratulate everyone involved in this brilliant labor of love.”
What is Barbie about?
If you haven’t happened to hear about Barbie yet, or you’ve noticed some claims about the content in the film starting to boil up from news outlets and personalities, you might be wondering what the film is actually about.
As Warner Bros. Pictures teases it, “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.” You can check out the official trailer for the film below:
I haven’t seen Barbie or Oppenheimer yet, but I definitely plan on seeing both. It’s, in some way, the perfect double feature. I’ll personally be seeing Oppenheimer first. I could use Barbie as a chaser for the drink that Oppenheimer is going to be.
If you want to enjoy the film in the best quality possible when it eventually makes its way to streaming, check out our list of the Best TVs and Best Soundbars.