Call it a symptom of Barbenheimer if you so choose, but the heights of Barbie‘s success simply cannot be overstated. Sitting comfortably above a $400 million return after less than a week in cinemas, Greta Gerwig‘s incisively humorous ode to feminism has proven to be the blockbuster of the moment, and very much looks to be in the process of etching itself into the box office history books.
But what milestones has Barbie achieved so far exactly? Here’s a full breakdown on the major box office records smashed by Margot Robbie and company.
Queen of the 2023 opening weekend
Barbie has officially dethroned The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the owner of the most lucrative opening weekend of the year; where Super Mario Bros. grossed around $146 million over the course of the traditional three-day opening weekend, Barbie scored $162 million in the same timeframe, firmly taking 2023’s opening weekend crown for itself.
It’s worth noting that The Super Mario Bros. Movie released on a Wednesday, meaning it had different, slightly more difficult parameters to contend with over the course of its three days than Barbie did, and the film’s resulting five-day opening weekend also saw a draw of over $200 million. How the story may have gone if the Mario Bros. Movie received a traditional release date is something we’ll never know.
Largest opening for a film directed by a woman
Barbie also surpassed Captain Marvel for the highest grossing opening weekend for a film directed by a woman, with Anna Boden’s superhero flick having debuted at $153.4 million to Barbie‘s $162 million; indeed, the power of Gerwig is on full display here.
Largest opening for a Margot Robbie film
Barbie marks the highest opening weekend for a film featuring Margot Robbie; an honor previously held by Suicide Squad.
Largest opening for a Ryan Gosling film
Blade Runner 2049, which opened to $32.8 million, is now Ryan Gosling‘s second-most lucrative film, and he has Barbie to thank for that.
Highest grossing opening day of 2023
Zooming in a bit further, Barbie‘s opening day, which also accounts for Wednesday and Thursday night previews, amounted to a monetary pull of $70.5 million, $22.3 million of which came from the aforementioned previews. Both instances are the highest of their kind for 2023.
Largest opening for a movie based on a toy
Curiously enough, Barbie marks the highest opening weekend for a film based on a toy, with 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon now tailing it after holding the previous record of $97.8 million. It looks like Mattel will be trying to smash that record again given its sudden lineup of post-Barbie projects, but we won’t hold our breath on that one.
