‘Barbie’ joins $1 billion club, sets another record

Greta Gerwig must be feeling close to feeling good these days. In just three weeks in theaters, “Barbie” will surpass $1 billion in global ticket sales, breaking the record for female director previously held by “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins.

“Barbie,” which Gerwig directed and co-wrote, added another $53 million from 4,178 North American locations this weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Directed and produced by Margot Robbie, the movie has been comfortably at number one for three weeks and it’s not over yet. Warner Bros. He said the movie will pass $1 billion before the day ends.

Only 53 films in modern box office history have grossed over $1 billion, not taking into account inflation, and “Barbie” is now the biggest movie directed by a woman, surpassing “Wonder Woman” at $821.8 million worldwide. Women’s co-directors, including “Frozen” ($1.3 billion) and “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion) and “Captain Marvel” ($1.1 billion), both co-directed by Jennifer Lee three films are still ahead of “Barbie”. , co-directed by Anna Boden. However, “Barbie” held the North American record for live-action films directed by women, beating “Captain Marvel” for $459.4 million domestically (vs. 426.8 million).

A new competition arrived this weekend in the form of animated, PG-rated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and Jason Statham’s sequel “Meg 2: The Trench,” both head-to-head with Christopher. Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is also in its third weekend for second place.

“Meg 2” managed to sneak up and take second place. It overcame its lousy reviews to earn an opening weekend score of $30 million from 3,503 locations. Directed by Ben Wheatley, Warner Bros. version currently has a 29% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- CinemaScore rating from viewers. The thriller was released in 3D, accounting for 22% of its first weekend business.

“Oppenheimer” took third place, adding $28.7 million from 3,612 locations in North America, bringing the domestic total to $228.6 million. In just three weeks, the J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic starring Cillian Murphy became the highest-grossing R-rated film of the year (ahead of “John Wick Chapter 4”) and the sixth biggest film of the year overall, “Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantumania.”

“Oppenheimer” also celebrated a milestone of over $500 million worldwide in three weeks. Its worldwide tally currently stands at $552.9 million, putting it ahead of “Dunkirk,” which crossed $527 million in 2017 and became Nolan’s fifth biggest film ever. It’s also among the four highest-grossing biographies ever (the company includes “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “The Passion of the Christ” and “American Sniper”) and among the biggest World War II films of all time.

Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” took fourth place, grossing an estimated $28 million from 3,858 theaters in North America. The film, which has received excellent reviews (96% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience ratings since Wednesday, has earned $43.1 million.

“This is one of those movies that has been enjoyed for generations,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s head of domestic distribution. “I think the continued popularity of the ‘Turtles’ shows its true face. And there’s no animated movie for eight weeks and there won’t be another animated movie for eight weeks, which is great for us.”

“The Turtles” cost $70 million to produce and features a famous voice cast that leans towards the “young” aspect of the film, including Jackie Chan, who produced and co-wrote the film, Ice Cube, Paul Rudd, Ayo Literary, and Seth Rogen. turtles

“Barbie”, “Oppenheimer” and even the anti-trafficking hit “The Voice of Freedom” (currently $163.5 million and ahead of “Mission Impossible 7”) exploded at the box office, making millions. more than expected and it helps to relieve pain caused by some summer disappointments.

“After ‘The Flash’, ‘Indiana Jones’ and, to some extent, ‘Mission: Impossible’, people were saying summer was a disappointment. But it’s not over yet,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “We’re going to have a high-grade summer.”

But the moment of glory for the industry will likely be short-lived if the studios can’t come to an agreement with standout actors and writers soon. The fall release schedule is already tight, with some studios pushing movies to 2024 instead of trying to promote them without stars.

Sony had planned to release the PlayStation-inspired true story “Gran Turismo” in theaters nationwide next Friday, but will now be released slowly over two weeks before going mainstream on August 25. If movie stars can’t promote the movie, maybe audiences can.

“We have to be realistic,” Dergarabedian said. “We are at this emotional peak with the movies going so well, but we must temper our enthusiasm and optimism with the fact that the strike created so much uncertainty. The longer it goes on, the deeper the problems get. But the audience has spoken, and they love going to the movies.”

Estimated ticket sales in US and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.

1. “Barbie”, $53 million.

2. “Meg 2: The Trench”, $30 million.

3. “Oppenheimer”, $28.7 million.

4. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” $28 million.

5. “Haunted Mansion”, $9 million.

6. “The Voice of Freedom”, $7 million.

7. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I,” $6.5 million.

8. “Talk to Me”, $6.3 million.

9. “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani”, $1.5 million.

10. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, $1.5 million.