C'mon Barbie, let's go party.
Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy/satire always looked set for a strong debut, and after taking in over $22 million on Thursday, the movie scored an estimated $48.2 million from 4,243 theaters on Friday for a $70.5 million total.
This gives Barbie, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the biggest opening day of the year, and puts it on track to hit $155 million domestically this weekend. It's already passed $150 million worldwide!
If predictions hold, the movie will also score the highest three-day opening of 2023, and has a shot at landing the biggest opening weekend ever for a feature with a female director.
A pretty spectacular showing, especially in this era of supposed "blockbuster fatigue."
Highly positive reviews didn't hurt. The movie is currently sitting at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 90% audience score.
Of course, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer also releases this weekend, and while the bleak historical biopic is off to a strong start with $33 million on Friday for a projected $77 million weekend, it's not expected to cause Barbie too much trouble for the No. 1 spot.
Do you plan on seeing either Barbie or Oppenheimer this weekend? What about a "Barbenheimer" double-bill? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Lady Bird) comes Barbie, which also stars America Ferrera (End of Watch, the How to Train Your Dragon films), Kate McKinnon (Bombshell, Yesterday), Issa Rae (The Photograph, Insecure), Rhea Perlman (I’ll See You in My Dreams, Matilda), and Will Ferrell (the Anchorman films, Talladega Nights), and more.
Gerwig directs from a screenplay she penned alongside Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story, The Squid and the Whale), based on the iconic fashion dolls by Mattel.
The film’s producers are Oscar nominee David Heyman (Marriage Story, Gravity), Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, with Gerwig, Baumbach, Ynon Kreiz, Richard Dickson, Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich and Cate Adams serving as executive producers.