Life in plastic is undeniably fantastic for Barbie as the Margot Robbie-led movie has greatly exceeded expectations at the box office. As we first reported on Toonado.com, it earned an impressive $23 million from Thursday night previews.
To put that into context, that's by far the biggest opening night of 2023, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 now a distant second at $17.5 million. This is exactly the sort of result Warner Bros. needed after both Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash bombed earlier this summer.
It's also worth pointing out that this $23 million haul puts Barbie ahead of recent hits like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($17.4 million), The Batman ($21.6 million), and Avatar: The Way of Water ($17 million).
Even 2022's biggest movie of the summer, Top Gun: Maverick, failed to reach these heights (it made $17.5 million).
There's recently been a lot of chatter about "Barbenheimer," but only one movie can win the weekend. Alas, it won't be Christopher Nolan's latest because Oppenheimer opened to a respectable $10.5 million last night.
What will the weekend look like from here?
For the time being, estimates are all over the place but projections range from $90 million - $125 million. Warner Bros. is being a little more conservative by predicting a $75 million haul, with a possible $165 million global opening. It's simply too soon to say for sure. Either way, it should be the biggest weekend for a movie directed by a woman, so hats off to the amazing Greta Gerwig.
What will you be watching in theaters this weekend? Sound off in the comments section below.
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