“Barbie” Crosses $1 Billion While Beating Newcomers “Meg 2” and “TMNT: Mutant Mayhem”

It’s official. The live-action Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has managed to cross the $1 billion milestone at the global box office, and it’s not done making money yet. The Greta Gerwig-directed movie easily beat newcomers Meg 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

The impressive box office debut of Barbie (it was released in the USA on July 21, 2023) is what led many people to predict it would manage to cross the $1 billion mark or, as the fans put it, make $1 barbillion dollars. Regardless of the backlash and hate campaigns certain groups threw at Barbie, the movie surpassed a major mark at the box office this weekend and as I have mentioned, it still has a whole bunch of weeks to keep printing money.

Barbie was able to gross around $53 million during the latest week at the domestic box office, raising the domestic North American haul to an impressive $459.5 million. Worldwide, the film has collected more than $572.1 million. These numbers have helped it become the first-ever live-action film directed solo by a woman to enter the $1 billion club!

After becoming a major financial success, it will be very interesting to see how Barbie performs once the award circuit rolls in. I can see it being nominated for the ‘Best Picture’ Oscar. And winning in the production and costume-related award categories wouldn’t be a surprise.

I watched Barbie and I have to share that I really enjoyed it. The script by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach is smart and funny. And it’s a very message-heavy film, but done in the right way.

However, I have to say that the lack of actual queer representation in a movie about freaking Barbie was a bit disappointing to me. The only blatant queer representation we got was a mere second of two queer dudes complimenting Ken’s outfit in the real world and a quick comedic reference to Earring Magic Ken and Sugar Daddy Ken.

Sigh!

Anyway, what’s done is done. Let’s see if the sequel or the spin-offs feature any well-written queer representation, especially when it comes to the heteronormative relationships Barbieland is filled with.

As for the rest of the box office, Jason Statham’s Meg 2: The Trench was able to secure second place with an estimated $30 million domestically. As of writing this, the movie was collected more than $142 million at the global box office against a reported production budget of $129 million.

Oppenheimer came in at third place with $28.7 million.

And the animated feature film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem came in at fourth place with $28 million. And while that isn’t a big debut for a popular IP, I did enjoy watching TMNT: Mutant Mayhem and I hope that Paramount continues with the already-announced sequel and the spin-off TV series.

TMNT: Mutant Mayhem served as another modern reboot of the long-running franchise on the big screen. I liked the art style and how the narrative handled the character arcs of the four turtle brothers by having their first major villain be a mutant who was tied to their origins.

As of writing this, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem has collected approximately $50 million at the global box office against a reported production budget of $70 million.

Disney’s live-action Haunted Mansion was able to collect only $9 million, falling 63% during the second week. You can read our review of Haunted Mansion here.

A major release next week happens to be the vampire horror flick The Last Voyage of the Demeter. 

That’s why I can see Barbie holding onto the number one spot… again.

Have you watched Barbie? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

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(via THR and Box Office Moj0)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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