Life in plastic is fantastic indeed. The Barbenheimer mania has taken the movie scene by storm, with both Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer beating expectations at the opening box office worldwide.
It’s a cultural phenomenon for the ages, and while the latter garnered a strong US$174 million internationally, the Margot Robbie-led feature emerged as the clear winner of the race. With an opening haul of US$337 globally, the movie has set couple of new records — not only is it the highest opening gross of the year to date, it also scored the biggest domestic opening weekend ever for a film directed by a woman.
As reported by Deadline, Barbie surpassed the US$146.6 million opening weekend record set by The Super Mario Bros. Movie, earning US$155 million. The movie is also Warner Bros. Discovery’s largest non-sequel, non-DC opening, which was formerly held by 2017’s It.
The milestone is a big victory for Gerwig, best known for her work on Little Woman and Lady Bird. While the neon-coated fantasy comedy fell short of Captain Marvel‘s US$456 global million start in 2019, it did deliver the highest opening weekend for a female director domestically. It also marks Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s largest domestic and overseas opening as actors.
In Barbie, the pair stars as the stereotypical versions of Barbie and Ken, who leave behind the Dreamhouse on a quest for self-discovery in the real world. Gerwig co-wrote the screenplay with her partner Noah Baumbach, with Issa Rae, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Helen Mirren, John Cena, Will Ferrell, and more rounding out the cast list.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
