No one expected such a craze around a movie dedicated to a doll. As reported by Mojo Box Office, on its premiere Friday, the Barbie movie was able to earn as much as $70.5 million. This result only concerns the American market and only one day. When international results from the whole weekend come in, the amount may surprise even the most skeptical analysts.
The result given on Friday means that Barbie currently has the best American premiere of 2023. Even the animated mega-hit, Super Mario Bros. (54.8 million dollars), did worse. Barbie is currently heading for this year’s Box Office crown. But will Greta Gerwig’s work actually be able to break the earnings threshold of $1 billion?
Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Lady Bird) presents Barbie with Oscar-nominated Margot Robbie (Bombshell, I, Tonya) and Ryan Gosling (La La Land, The Nice Guys) in the roles of Barbie and Ken.
Also starring are America Ferrera (End of Watch, How to Train Your Dragon series), Kate McKinnon (Bombshell, Yesterday), Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Juno), Ariana Greenblatt (Avengers: Infinity War, 65), Issa Rae (The Photograph, Insecure), Rhea Perlman (When in Rome, Matilda) and Will Ferrell (Anchorman series, Talladega Nights). In other roles are Ana Cruz Kayne (Little Women), Emma Mackey (Emily, Sex Education), Hari Nef (Assassination Nation, Transparent), Alexandra Shipp (X-Men series), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami…, Peaky Blinders), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education), Scott Evans (Grace and Frankie), Jamie Demetriou (Cruella), Connor Swindells (Sex Education, Emma), Sharon Rooney (Dumbo, Jerk), Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls), Ritu Arya (The Umbrella Academy) and Oscar winner Helen Mirren (The Queen).
Gerwig directed Barbie based on a screenplay by herself and Oscar-nominated Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story, The Squid and the Whale). The inspiration is Mattel’s Barbie character. The film is produced by Oscar-nominated David Heyman (Marriage Story, Gravity), Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, while Gerwig, Baumbach, Ynon Kreiz, Richard Dickson, Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich and Cate Adams serve as executive producers.
Gerwig’s team includes Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (The Irishman, Silence, Brokeback Mountain), six-time Oscar-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood (Beauty and the Beast, Anna Karenina), editor Nick Houy (Little Women, Lady Bird), Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (Little Women, Anna Karenina), visual effects supervisor Glen Pratt (Paddington 2, Beauty and the Beast), music supervisor George Drakoulias (White Noise 2: The Light , Marriage Story) and Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water , The Grand Budapest Hotel).
Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films , LuckyChap Entertainment and Mattel production titled Barbie. The film is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. It hit American screens on July 21 , 2023 , and its world premiere took place on July 19 , 2023.