Greta Gerwig ought to be feeling wonderful right now. “Barbie” is expected to surpass $1 billion in global ticket sales in just three weeks of release, shattering the record for female directors formerly held by Patty Jenkins, who directed “Wonder Woman.”
According to studio projections released on Sunday, “Barbie,” which Gerwig co-wrote and directed, earned an additional $53 million this weekend from 4,178 North American theaters. Three weeks into its production, the Margot Robbie-starring and -produced movie has been solidly seated in first place. Before the day is over, the movie will gross over $1 billion, according to Warner Bros.
Only 53 films have ever earned more than $1 billion at the box office in modern times, and “Barbie” has surpassed “Wonder Woman’s” $821.8 million global gross to become the greatest film ever directed by a woman. Three films with female co-directors have made more money than “Barbie,” including Jennifer Lee’s “Frozen” and “Frozen 2” ($1.3 billion and $1.45 billion, respectively) and Anna Boden’s “Captain Marvel” ($1.1 billion). But at $459.4 million domestically (compared to $426.8 million for “Captain Marvel”), “Barbie” has surpassed it, breaking the previous record for live-action films in North America that were directed by women.
The PG-rated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and the Jason Statham shark sequel “Meg 2: The Trench,” which debuted this weekend, provided new competition, were neck-and-neck for second place with Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which was also in its third weekend.
“Meg 2” was able to overtake the competition and take second place. It overcame its terrible reviews to earn $30 million in its first weekend from 3,503 theaters. Ben Wheatley’s Warner Bros. film now has a 29% critics approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- CinemaScore from viewers. The thriller’s first weekend sales were 22% higher because it was released in 3D.
“Oppenheimer,” which earned an additional $28.7 million from 3,612 North American locations and increased its domestic total to $228.6 million, came in third. The Cillian Murphy-led J. Robert Oppenheimer biography has surpassed “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” to become the sixth-highest grossing movie of the year overall and the highest-grossing R-rated movie of the year in just three weeks.
“Oppenheimer” also marked a significant milestone by earning $500 million worldwide in just three weeks. With $552.9 million in total worldwide, it surpasses “Dunkirk,” which earned $527 million in 2017 and is now Nolan’s fifth-highest grossing film of all time. Along with becoming the biggest World War II film ever, it is currently one of the four most earning biographies of all time, ranking alongside “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Passion of the Christ,” and “American Sniper.”
With an estimated $28 million across 3,858 theaters in North America, Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” came in fourth place. The movie has made $43.1 million since it debuted on Wednesday thanks to rave reviews (96% on Rotten Tomatoes) while audience ratings.
Chris Aronson, head of domestic distribution at Paramount, remarked, “This is one of those films that is a multigenerational joy.” “I believe ‘Turtles’s’ enduring popularity is coming out in full force. Additionally, there hasn’t been an animated movie in eight weeks, and there won’t be one for another eight.
With a $70 million budget, “Turtles” stars a voice cast that includes Jackie Chan, Ayo Edebiri, Ice Cube, Paul Rudd, and Seth Rogen. Rogen also produced and co-wrote the movie, which emphasizes the “teenage” nature of the turtles.
The box office boom has been fueled by films like “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” and even the anti-trafficking surprise hit “Sound of Freedom” (now at $163.5 million and ahead of “Mission: Impossible 7”), which has brought in many millions more than was anticipated and helped to ease the pain of some summer flops.
People were complaining that the summer was a letdown after “The Flash,” “Indiana Jones,” and, to some extent, “Mission: Impossible.” Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for Comscore, said that it is still not over. The summer is going to end on a positive note, I predict.
However, if the studios are unable to quickly come to a deal with the striking actors and writers, the moment of corporate success will probably be brief. The fall release schedule has already shrunk as some studios shift their movies until 2024 rather than attempting to market them without movie stars.
The PlayStation-inspired true story “Gran Turismo,” which Sony had initially planned to show in theaters nationwide on Friday, will instead be released gradually for two weeks before opening to the public on August 25. The reasoning? Moviegoers could be able to promote the movie if movie stars can’t.
Dergarabedian remarked, “We need to be pragmatic. “We’re experiencing an emotional high because the movies are performing so well, but we need to balance our elation and hope because the strike is causing a lot of uncertainty. The troubles become more serious as time goes on. However, the general public has spoken, and they enjoy watching movies.
Comscore’s projections for Friday through Sunday theater attendance in the United States and Canada. On Monday, the final domestic data will be revealed.
- “Barbie,” with $53 million.
- “Meg 2: The Trench,” $30,000,000.
- “Oppenheimer,” with a $28.7 million budget.
- “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” which brought in $28 million.
- “Haunted Mansion,” $9,000,000.
- “Sound of Freedom,” $7 million.
- “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I,” USD 6.5 million.
- “Talk to Me,” $6,3,000,000.
- “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani,” with a budget of $1.5 million.
- “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” at a budget of $1.5 million.