Only 6 films surpass ‘Barbie’ in the second-weekend gross, and 4 of them are MCU

Barbie has become Margot Robbie‘s biggest box-office hit after surpassing her iconic DC film Suicide Squad‘s $746 million lifetime gross in less than two weeks. The inspiring feminist tale by Greta Gerwig roped in a whopping $70.5 million on the opening day and has now completed 10 days of theatrical run. The second-weekend box office numbers for the female-fueled feature are in and seem to be setting more records.

Barbie has earned a spectacular $131.5 million at the global box office in its second weekend, including an estimated $93 million domestically and $122.2 million from 70 markets overseas. The film’s domestic total now stands at an impressive $351.4 million, and its earning overseas has reached a generous $774.5 million. Barbie is swiftly moving towards becoming the first female solo-directed film to reach the billion-dollar club. Currently, Barbie is dominating the box office with a worldwide gross of $774.5 million.

‘Barbie’ is ranked #7 among the biggest second weekends, surpassing 2023’s billion-dollar hit ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘

An interesting fact also emerges with Barbie‘s second-weekend collection as it has made its way among the 10 biggest second-weekend grosses in the U.S.A. and Canada of all time. Barbie has taken the 7th spot on the list, leaving behind 2023’s only billion-dollar feature so far, The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($92.3 million). It has also surpassed the successful 2017 Disney remake Beauty and the Beast ($90.4 million) along with Tom Cruise’s 2022 action blockbuster hit Top Gun: Maverick ($90 million).

The only six films in cinema history to have made more money than Barbie in their second weekend surprisingly feature a majority of four films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the film ranking on top is the iconic 2015 Jedi tale, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is the 17th film in the Skywalker Saga and earned $149 million the second weekend after releasing on Dec. 18, 2015. The Force Awakens is also hailed as the most expensive film ever made. Closely following is MCU’s golden era release, Avengers: Endgame, with a $147 million second-weekend gross, which marked the final appearances of various members of the OG Avengers team.

Preceding Endgame is its 2018 prequel Infinity War which grossed $114 million on its second weekend and became the first superhero film to gross $2 billion worldwide. Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther is next in line with $111 million, marking the second 2018 release to make it to the list. It also broke the record for the highest-grossing film directed by a Black filmmaker at its release.

The second 2015 hit on the list, Jurassic World ranks #5 with $106 million and holds the record for the highest-grossing film Universal has released. The fourth MCU film on the list, The Avengers, comes at #6 with $103 million, which also became the highest-grossing film of 2012.

‘Barbie’ is surprisingly the lowest-budget film on the list

All 6 movies ranking above Barbie on the list are a part of the billion-dollar revenue club, which makes it almost certain that Barbie will soon hit the $1 billion mark. What makes Barbie‘s ranking even more impressive is that the film has a lower production budget than all six movies ranking above it. And if we exclude The Super Mario Bros. Movie from the Top 10 (since it’s animated), Barbie stands as the lowest-budget film among all 10 films on the list.

Barbie was made on a standard production budget of $145 million. Though, it had an additional $150 million marketing budget that eventually led to the film’s roaring success. From pink burgers, real-life dreamhouses, and X-box controllers to shoes, accessories, and clothing, Barbie‘s massive marketing campaign is one of the best of all time.

Even though Barbie could not break into the highest-grossing worldwide opening list, which is toplined by Avengers: Endgame, It finally brought the craze for cinema back after COVID-19 made viewers too lazy for theaters. The July 21 Barbenheimer weekend revived the audience’s interest in big screens, seeing huge pre-bookings. Barbie evidently won the Barbenheimer battle with big margins and is now gearing up to create a new era of cinema led by empowered women telling empowering stories.