Barbie makes nearly a billion at the box office all over the world

August 9, 2023: On Sunday, Barbie makes nearly a billion at the box office all over the world. The bubblegum pink film from Warner Bros. Discovery and Mattel will top $1 billion in international key sales, before the end of the weekend, according to estimates from the studio. The final numbers will be released.

Only around 50 different films have reached this benchmark.

“In this march previous the billion-dollar threshold, ‘Barbie’ joins what has become an increasingly exclusive club over the past couple of years,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “That’s especially true for auteur filmmaker Greta Gerwig becoming the first solo female director to helm a billion-dollar grosser.”

Gerwig joins Anna Boden, co-director of Disney’s “Captain Marvel,” as the only two women to drive a live-action billion-dollar film. “Captain Marvel” earned just shy of $1.13 billion in its theatrical run in 2019, according to data from Comscore.

On the energy side, Jennifer Lee has two billion-dollar features, having co-directed “Frozen” and “Frozen II” with Chris Buck for Disney.

This also observes the first billion-dollar movies for the newly minted Warner Bros. Discovery, which merged in 2022, and only the second movie released in 2023 to do so. Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has topped $1.3 billion since its April debut.

“This monumental box office achievement for ‘Barbie’ shows what is possible when all of the elements of filmmaking, marketing, distribution, fan engagement, and movie theater presentation work in harmony,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst from Comscore. “And a sprinkling of ‘Barbenheimer’ magic certainly didn’t hurt either.”

The success of “Barbie” comes when blockbuster-budgeted films have struggled to connect with moviegoing audiences. Nostalgia bait flicks like Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” as well as sequels for Paramount’s

 The Mission Impossible series and Universal’s Fast and Furious franchise failed to attract audiences. Each film tallied less than $200 million in domestic box office receipts.

“Barbie” shows moviegoers always want to leave their couches for quality films and unique collaborative experiences. Movie theaters, big and small, reported record ticket deals as pink-clad audiences packed theaters.