Summary Barbie’s opening weekend has shattered records, with a projected gross of $155-160 million, making it the best opening weekend of 2023 so far. The movie has broken numerous records, including the highest opening for a movie with a female director and the biggest opening for a movie based on a toy. With limited competition and the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike reducing publicity opportunities for other films, Barbie has a strong chance of joining the $1 billion club at the worldwide box office.
Barbie has shattered records with its opening weekend gross. The movie, which opened on July 21, was directed by three-time Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach. It stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the lead Barbie and lead Ken, respectively, though a multitude of other versions of Barbie and Ken are played by actors including Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

Per Warner Bros., the Barbie opening weekend box office sits at $155 million domestically and $182 internationally for a total of $337 million worldwide. With this, Barbie earns itself the title of best opening weekend of 2023, beating The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s opening haul of $146.3 million domestically. Barbie has also broken a myriad of records, including the highest opening weekend for a movie that isn’t a sequel, a remake, or a superhero movie.

Could Barbie Join The $1 Billion Club?

There are innumerable additional records that the Barbie movie has broken. These include the biggest opening for a movie with a female director, the biggest for a movie based on a toy, and the biggest for either Margot Robbie or Ryan Gosling. Combined with the Oppenheimer box office and the other movies currently in theaters, this gross has also generated the fourth-biggest domestic box office weekend of all time, behind the opening weekends of Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The only question that remains is how far Barbie can go after this weekend. So far, its prospects look incredibly rosy, especially considering the fact that the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike (as actors fight for fair wages) has eliminated many publicity opportunities for upcoming movies. Potential competition from Haunted Mansion, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and The Meg 2 is likely going to be greatly reduced because of this, leaving a lot of open runway for Barbie to keep climbing.

Barbie could very well enter the $1 billion club before too long. So far this year, the only movie to cross that milestone at the worldwide box office is Super Mario. However, considering the fact that this movie opened even higher than Mario, this could mean its path toward that number is already set if its international numbers can keep up with its domestic gross.

Source: WB